Expression of P53 Protein Correlates with Decreased Survival in Patients with Areca Quid Chewing-Related Oral Squamous Cell Carcinomas in Taiwan

Expression of p53 protein was examined in oral squamous cell carcinoma ( SCC) from patients who were areca quid (AQ) chewers and/or tobacco smokers , using anti-p53 antibodies with an immunoperoxidase technique. Positive p 53 stain was observed in 47 of 81 (58%) cases of oral SCC, p53 overexpression was found to be higher in patients without AQ chewing and smoking habits than in patients with these two habits (80% vs 52%, P = 0. 076). No significant correlation was found between p53 expression and the patients' age, sex, cancer location, clinical staging, primary tumor TNM status ? or histological differentiation of SCC. The Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the prognosis for patients with p53- negative tumors was significantly better than that for patients with p53-positive tumors (P < 0.05). A significant correlation was also observed between positive lymph node status and poor prognosis (P < 0.05), These results suggest that p53 may serve as an adjuvant marker of poor survival in patients with oral SCCs in Taiwan