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Immunohistochemical expression of p53 and MDM2 within head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
Author(s) -
Tandon S.,
Beer H.,
Jones T.M.,
Birchall M.,
Boyd M.,
Helliwell T.R.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
clinical otolaryngology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.914
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1749-4486
pISSN - 1749-4478
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-4486.2006.01236_8.x
Subject(s) - medicine , mdm2 , immunohistochemistry , head and neck squamous cell carcinoma , pathology , basal cell , head and neck , head and neck cancer , cancer , surgery , biology , cell culture , genetics
Objectives . To determine the presence, location and degree of expression of p53 and MDM2, by use of immunohistochemistry, in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (HNSCC). Design . Laboratory based observational study. Setting . University Hospital Aintree, Liverpool and The University of Liverpool. Participants . Twenty‐three consecutive patients with HNSCC were studied. Ethics approval and informed patient consent were gained. Paraffin sections of carcinoma were stained for p53 and MDM2. Sections were assessed by stratified random sampling of the periphery and centre of the tumour for nuclear staining. Main outcomes measures. (i) Number of positive cases for p53 and MDM2; (ii) percentage of cells positive for p53 and MDM2; (iii) variation of positive cells within the tumour. Results. The range of p53 positivity was 0–100%; 10 cases were negative for p53, five cases were intermediate for p53, seven cases were highly positive for p53. The range of MDM2 positivity was 0–16%; 10 cases were negative for MDM2, four cases were intermediate for MDM2, nine cases were highly positive for MDM2. 10 cases were predominantly p53 positive, eight cases were predominantly MDM2 positive and five cases were negative for both p53 and MDM2. There was no consistent difference between the edge and the centre for either antibody, however for MDM2, there is increased expression in peri‐necrotic areas. Conclusions. (i) HNSCC shows different patterns of p53 and MDM2 co‐expression, which has potential biological and clinical significance; (ii) peri‐necrotic expression of MDM2 may be explained by a response to hypoxia.