Racial disparity in overexpression of the p53 tumor suppressor gene in stage I endometrial cancer.
OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to determine whether overexpression of the p53 tumor suppressor gene is associated with poor outcome in early-stage endometrial cancers and whether a racial difference in the frequency of p53 overexpression contributes to the observed racial disparity in survival rates. STUDY DESIGN: Immunostaining for the p53 gene was performed in 164 women with stage I endometrial adenocarcinomas. RESULTS: Overexpression of mutant p53 protein was seen in 28 out of 164 (17%) cases and was associated with a poor histologic grade (p = 0.003) and a nonendometrioid histologic appearance (p = 0.06). Overexpression also was three times more frequent in blacks (15 out of 44, 34%) than in whites (13 out of 117, 11%) (p = 0.003). Recurrent disease developed in 15 out of 164 (9%) cases and was more than twice as frequent in cases when the p53 gene was overexpressed (5 out of 28, 18%) than in cases with normal expression (10 out of 136, 7%). Recurrent disease was seen in 6 out of 44 (14%) blacks compared to 9 out of 117 (8%) whites. CONCLUSIONS: These data support the hypothesis that differences in the frequency of alteration of the p53 tumor suppressor gene contribute to the racial disparity in endometrial cancer survival.
Duke Scholars
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Related Subject Headings
- White People
- Tumor Suppressor Protein p53
- Survival Rate
- Obstetrics & Reproductive Medicine
- Neoplasm Staging
- Middle Aged
- Humans
- Genes, p53
- Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
- Female
Citation
Published In
DOI
ISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Issue
Start / End Page
Location
Related Subject Headings
- White People
- Tumor Suppressor Protein p53
- Survival Rate
- Obstetrics & Reproductive Medicine
- Neoplasm Staging
- Middle Aged
- Humans
- Genes, p53
- Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
- Female