p53 protein overexpression in nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Indonesian patients

Abstract

p53 gene and its protein is one of the most widely studied genetic abnormalities in cancer. However due to the restriction of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) to certain areas, mostly in Asia, scant attention has been paid to the over-expression of p53 in the high prevalence of NPC in the international literature. This study examined the immunohistological expression of p53 in 48 Indonesian NPC patients and correlated it with two NPC histological classifications. p53 protein over-expression were respectively found in 100%, 82.6%, and 62.5% of squamous cell carcinoma, type A carcinoma and type B carcinoma of Working Formulation classification. This statistically significant correlation gives the impression that p53 may have prognostic relevance in NPC.