Significance of p53 protein expression in growth pattern of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

The significance of intraepithelial carcinoma concomitant with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma during carcinogenesis and progression of the tumor has been discussed diversely. The purpose of the current study was to elucidate the relation between p53 protein expression and the growth pattern of the squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus with attention to coexistence of intraepithelial carcinoma. Seventy cases with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus surgically resected without preoperative adjuvant therapy, including 49 cases with intraepithelial carcinoma contiguous to the invasive lesion, were analyzed immunohistochemically for p53 expression. Positive immunoreactivity of p53 was found in 36 (51.4%) of 70 cases. The frequency of p53 protein expression in cases with intraepithelial carcinoma (65.3%; 32/49) was significantly higher than that (19.0%; 4/21) in cases without intraepithelial carcinoma (p<0.001). The value of invasion coefficient, which indicates a ratio of the area of invasive cancerous lesion occupied in the whole lesion, in the cases with p53 protein expression was significantly smaller than that in the cases without p53 protein expression (p<0.001). In conclusion, p53 protein expression was found to be significantly related to the coexistence and spreading of intraepithelial carcinoma contiguous to squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus.