P21 super(WAF1/CIP1) Protein and Tongue Cancer Prognosis

• Published in: Anticancer research Vol. 24; no. 5B; pp. 3225 - 3232
• Main Authors: Gonzalez-Moles, MA, Ruiz-Avila, I, Martinez, JAF, Gil-Montoya, JA, Esteban, F, Gonzalez-Moles, S, Bravo-Perez, M, Bascones, A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.10.2004
• ISSN: 0250-7005

The expression of the cell cycle regulatory protein p21 super(waf1/cip1) was analyzed immunohistochemically in tissue from the tumor and adjacent non-tumor epithelia of 54 patients with tongue cancer in order to determine the proportion of tongue carcinomas with altered p21 super(waf1/cip1) expression, establish whether this alteration is an early event in tongue carcinogenesis and to investigate whether p21 super(waf1/cip1) expression has predictive prognostic value in these tumors. The percentage of p21 super(waf1/cip1)-positive neoplastic cells was calculated. Adjacent non-tumor epithelium was classified as normal, hyperplastic or dysplastic, and the p21 super(waf1/cip1) expression was only considered normal in suprabasal layers. P21 super(waf1/cip1) expression was negative in 57.4% (31/54) of the tumors and was aberrant in the non-tumor adjacent tissue of all patients studied. Neither the absence nor the degree of p21 super(waf1/cip1) expression influenced the survival of patients in the present series. P21 super(waf1/cip1) system alteration may be an early and frequent event in tongue carcinogenesis.