Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
2
pubmed:dateCreated
2001-3-7
pubmed:abstractText
Second primary carcinoma is a peculiar feature of head and neck cancer and represents a form of treatment failure distinct from the recurrence of the primary tumor. Whether altered p53 expression in tumor-distant epithelia at the time of diagnosis is of clinical value as a biomarker for second primary carcinoma development has not been rigorously answered because of the lack of long-term follow-up studies involving a sufficiently large patient cohort. In this prospective study, we have investigated p53 expression in tumor-distant epithelia and in the corresponding primary tumors of 105 head and neck cancer patients by immunohistochemistry on frozen sections. After a median follow-up of 55 months, the clinical course of disease parameters, i.e., local recurrences, lymph node and distant metastasis, incidence of second primary carcinoma, and survival, was evaluated. Overexpression of p53 in tumor-distant epithelia was found in 49 patients (46.7%), and it was independent of the p53 protein status of the primary tumor and of the tumor site, size, stage, and grading. Mucosal p53 overexpression was not associated with local primary recurrences, lymph node or distant metastases, or overall survival. Importantly, mucosal p53 overexpression, but not overexpression in the primary tumors, was significantly associated with an increased incidence of second primary carcinomas (P = 0.0001; Fisher's exact test). When the times to second primary tumor occurrence were analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier method, the difference remained significant (P = 0.005; log rank test). We conclude that IHC staining for p53 overexpression in tumor-distant epithelia provides a simple and rapid tool to identify head and neck cancer patients at increased risk of developing second primary tumors. Because p53 overexpression in these epithelia in our patient cohort was specifically associated with second primary cancer but not with recurrences, at least a fraction of the second primary cancers appears to have resulted from genetic events in the mucosa ("field cancerization").
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Feb
pubmed:issn
1078-0432
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
7
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
290-6
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2001
pubmed:articleTitle
Overexpression of p53 in tumor-distant epithelia of head and neck cancer patients is associated with an increased incidence of second primary carcinoma.
pubmed:affiliation
Molekularbiologisches Labor, Universitäts-HNO-Klinik Heidelberg, Germany.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't