Comparison of p53 expression in proximal and distal gastric cancer: histopathologic correlation and prognostic significance

BACKGROUND: The overexpression of p53 has been found to be correlated with prognosis of some carcinomas, including gastric cancer, but no studies have reported on its relationship to the location of gastric cancer. In the present study, we compared the p53 expression of proximal and distal gastric cancer concerning histopathology and prognosis. METHODS: A total of 170 tumors in the patients with proximal (80 cases) and distal (90 cases) gastric cancer were studied by immunohistochemical methods. RESULTS: p53 immunopositivity was detected in 28.8% of all tumors. The p53-positive expression in proximal gastric cancer was higher than in distal gastric cancer (38.8% vs. 20.0%, p < 0.05). A 5-year survival analysis showed that there is no significant difference between tumors that are p53 positive and p53 negative. No correlation was found between p53 expression and histopathology of gastric cancer. CONCLUSION: p53 nuclear staining is not useful as a prognostic indicator or as a parameter in gastric cancer.