title: The Prognostic Impact of p53 Expression on Sporadic Colorectal Cancer Is Dependent on p21 Status.
abstract: The prognostic value of p53 and p21 expression in colorectal cancer is still under debate. We hypothesize that the prognostic impact of p53 expression is dependent on p21 status. The expression of p53 and p21 was immunohistochemically investigated in a prospective cohort of 116 patients with UICC stage II and III sporadic colorectal cancer. The results were correlated with overall and recurrence-free survival. The mean observation period was 51.8 ± 2.5 months. Expression of p53 was observed in 72 tumors (63%). Overall survival was significantly better in patients with p53-positive carcinomas than in those without p53 expression (p = 0.048). No differences were found in recurrence-free survival (p = 0.161). The p53+/p21- combination was seen in 68% (n = 49), the p53+/p21+ combination in 32% (n = 23). Patients with p53+/p21- carcinomas had significantly better overall and recurrence-free survival than those with p53+/p21+ (p < 0.0001 resp. p = 0.003). Our data suggest that the prognostic impact of p53 expression on sporadic colorectal cancer is dependent on p21 status.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité-University Medicine Berlin, Hindenburgdamm 30, 12200 Berlin, Germany. martin.kruschewski@charite.de.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kruschewski
authors.forename: Kathrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.forename: Sybille
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lipka
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Budczies
authors.forename: Aurelia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Noske
authors.forename: Heinz Johannes
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Buhr
authors.forename: Sefer
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Elezkurtaj