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Prognostic role of p21 WAF1 expression in areca quid chewing and smoking‐associated oral squamous cell carcinoma in Taiwan
Author(s) -
YenPing Kuo Mark,
Huang JehnShyun,
Kok SangHeng,
Kuo YingShiung,
Chiang ChunPin
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of oral pathology and medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.887
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1600-0714
pISSN - 0904-2512
DOI - 10.1046/j.0904-2512.2001.10055.x
Subject(s) - immunohistochemistry , immunostaining , areca , medicine , cancer , pathology , carcinoma , basal cell , oncology , structural engineering , nut , engineering
Background: Alterations in p21 WAF1 protein expression have been observed in a wide variety of human cancers by immunohistochemistry, and both decreased and increased levels of p21 WAF1 protein expression have been shown to correlate with poor prognosis. Method: To examine the relation between p21 WAF1 protein expression and prognosis in oral squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs), we performed an immunohistochemical study with antip21 WAF1 antibody on 43 oral SCCs. Immunostaining results were then correlated with p53 protein levels, clinicopathological parameters of the tumors and overall patient survival. Results: Of the 43 patients, 31 (72%) had tumors with positive p21 WAF1 nuclear staining and 27 (63%) had tumors with p53 nuclear staining. There was no significant correlation between p21 WAF1 and p53 protein expressions and both mutant p53‐containing oral SCCs overexpressed p21 WAF1 protein. In addition, no significant correlation was found between the p21 WAF1 expression and the patients' age, sex, oral habit, cancer location, or primary tumor TNM status at the time of initial presentation. The Kaplan‐Meier analysis showed a significant correlation between p21 WAF1 protein overexpression and poor patient overall survival ( P = 0.049). When p53 and p21 WAF1 were evaluated together, the 5‐year overall survival was lowest in p53(+)‐p21 WAF1 (+) patients and highest in p53(–)‐p21 WAF1 (–) patients ( P = 0.057). Conclusion: Combined evaluation of p21 WAF1 and p53 expressions may be useful in estimating the prognosis of patients with oral SCCs in Taiwan.