p53 and cyclin D1 as prognostic factors in squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx

Objectives/Hypothesis: Proteins p53 and cyclin D1 play a crucial role in cell cycle control. Protein p53 mutations are one of the most common genetic alterations in human cancer, and cyclin D1 gene amplification has been found to be associated with poor prognosis in different types of tumors. Functional alterations of these proteins may play an important role both in the carcinogenesis of squamous carcinomas of the head and neck and in the clinical evolution of these tumors. The objective of the present study was to evaluate whether the presence of p53 and/or cyclin D1 proteins (detected by immunohistochemical analysis) could serve as relevant variables for the assessment of the prognosis of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Study Design: Retrospective multicentric study. Methods. Paraffin-embedded biopsy specimens from 62 human epidermoid laryngeal carcinomas were randomly selected. The expression of p53 and cyclin D1 was examined by means of immunohistochemical analysis with a view to evaluating whether there is a correlation between the aberrant expression of these proteins and disease prognosis. Results: In the sample, the presence of immunohistochemically detectable p53 is associated with shorter survival and disease-free intervals, as shown in Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis. Indeed, multivariate statistical analysis revealed that the accumulation of p53 is an independent prognostic factor, which is associated with shorter survival. This association was not evident in the case of cyclin D1. Conclusion: A more precise prognosis of patients with laryngeal epidermoid carcinomas could be achieved by taking into account the presence of p53 (as assayed by immunohistochemical analysis) in biopsy tissue.