Prognostic Significance of P53 Histochemistry and DNA Histogram Parameters in Head and Neck Malignancies

Background: The aim of the study was to determine the role of quantitative pathological parameters in prognosis of head and neck malignancies.

Materials And Methods: 51 head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients were examined for mutant p53 gene expression (45 out of 51 patients) by immunohistochemistry and for cellular DNA-content (44 out of 51 patients) using digital picture analyzer. Statistical analysis was performed using BMDP package.

Results: No correlation with prognosis was found for age, sex, localization, T-classification and therapy. There was significant relationship between N-status and overall survival (p = 0.0008). No correlation was found with overall and disease-free survival for either histologic type or grading. P53: No significant correlation was detected with overall survival. A relationship was found between mutant p53 and metastasis-free time (p = 0.06). Ploidy: There were no significant differences between aneuploid and euploid tumors for either disease-free or overall survival. Synthetic (S)-phase fraction: A correlation was found for both survival rates (p = 0.029) and metastasis-free time (p = 0.05). Polyploid fraction (PF): correlation was shown for both overall survival (p = 0.0128) and metastasis-free time (p = 0.0038).

Conclusion: There is correlation between p53 overexpression and metastatic potential and there is a significant relationship between SPF and PF value and prognosis (metastasis-free and overall survival) of head and neck cancer.