Publicationof the InternationalUnion Against Cancer Publicationde I'Union InternationaleContre le Cancer
Int. J. Cancer: 50,683-688 (1992) 0 1992 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
OVER-EXPRESSION OF p53 NUCLEAR ONCOPROTEIN IN COLORECTAL ADENOMAS Massimo PIGNATELL11'2'5 , Gordon W.H. STAMP'.*,Georgia KAFIRI', David LANE' and Walter F. BODMER4 'Departmentof Histopathology, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London; 2RCSIICRFHistopathology Unit, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London; 'Cancer Research Campaign Laboratories, Department of Biochemistry, Dundee University, Dundee; and 41mperialCancer Research Fund, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, UK. p53 is a nuclear phosphoprotein which controls normal cell growth. Normal p53 protein is undetectableby standard immunohistochemical staining and the over-expression found in neoplastic cells correlateswith the presence of point mutations of evolutionary conserved regions of the p53 gene. We examined the expression of p53 protein in a series of 36 colorectal adenomas (I 3 tubular, I 7 tubulovillous, 6 villous) showing different degrees of dysplasia (I I mild, I 9 moderate, 6 severe), I I moderately differentiated adenocarcinomas (6 Duke's A, 4 Duke's B, I Duke's C) and 5 metaplastic polyps using the polyclonal antibody CM I which recognises p53 protein in conventionally fixed and processed histological material. We found that 15 out of 36 colorectal adenomas showed p53 immunoreactivity, although in 4 positive cases (26%) the staining was very focal (
Int. J. Cancer: 50,683-688 (1992) 0 1992 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
OVER-EXPRESSION OF p53 NUCLEAR ONCOPROTEIN IN COLORECTAL ADENOMAS Massimo PIGNATELL11'2'5 , Gordon W.H. STAMP'.*,Georgia KAFIRI', David LANE' and Walter F. BODMER4 'Departmentof Histopathology, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London; 2RCSIICRFHistopathology Unit, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London; 'Cancer Research Campaign Laboratories, Department of Biochemistry, Dundee University, Dundee; and 41mperialCancer Research Fund, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, UK. p53 is a nuclear phosphoprotein which controls normal cell growth. Normal p53 protein is undetectableby standard immunohistochemical staining and the over-expression found in neoplastic cells correlateswith the presence of point mutations of evolutionary conserved regions of the p53 gene. We examined the expression of p53 protein in a series of 36 colorectal adenomas (I 3 tubular, I 7 tubulovillous, 6 villous) showing different degrees of dysplasia (I I mild, I 9 moderate, 6 severe), I I moderately differentiated adenocarcinomas (6 Duke's A, 4 Duke's B, I Duke's C) and 5 metaplastic polyps using the polyclonal antibody CM I which recognises p53 protein in conventionally fixed and processed histological material. We found that 15 out of 36 colorectal adenomas showed p53 immunoreactivity, although in 4 positive cases (26%) the staining was very focal (
