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This study was conducted to evaluate the frequency and prognostic impact of TP53 alterations stratified for the TP53 codon 72 polymorphism (c.215G>C, p.Arg72Pro) in a cohort of 109 patients with advanced ovarian carcinomas. TP53 sequence variants were observed in 80 of the 109 (73.4%) tumors and were significantly associated with grade of differentiation (P=0.001). A tendency towards higher frequency of sequence variants in tumors with higher FIGO stages was seen (P=0.05). The type of TP53 sequence variant (transition A:T>G:C vs. G:C>A:T at CpG dinucleotides, and transversion G:C>T:A) had significant correlation with patients' age (P=0.04) with more A:T>G:C in patients over 60 years old. No significant associations were found between frequency of sequence variants and age at diagnosis, histological type, size of residual tumor after primary surgery, or long-term survival. Analyses of the codon 72 polymorphism in tumor DNA gave a higher frequency of homozygosity/hemizygosity than expected from the population frequency, particularly for the Pro allele. Tumors homozygous or hemizygous for the Pro allele had significantly higher frequency of TP53 sequence variants, particularly of the nonmissense type (P=0.002), and patients with these types of alterations had significantly shorter survival (P=0.04). TP53 protein accumulation, determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC), was found in 67.9% (74 out of 109) of the tumors, was significantly more common among serous than nonserous ovarian carcinomas (P=0.008), and had a significant effect on progression-free survival (P=0.03). p63 (TP73L; formerly TP63) and p73 (TP73) protein accumulation detected by IHC was seen in 67.9 and 0% of the tumors, respectively. A significantly higher frequency of p63-positive cases was seen among serous tumors (P=0.008) and tended to increase with increasing FIGO stages (P=0.05), but had no significant effect on survival. No association between p63 protein accumulation and TP53 protein accumulation was seen. Hum Mutat 24:21-34, 2004. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to examine any relation between DNA ploidy and previously detected TP53 (p53) or p21[sup WAF1/CIP1] expression in 94 patients with muscle-invasive transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder and to associate these factors with survival. DNA ploidy was determined by image cytometry. In a subgroup of patients, the mutational status of the TP53 gene was assessed by temporal temperature gradient electrophoresis (TTGE) or perpendicular denaturant gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and subsequent sequencing. Significantly more aneuploid than euploid tumours showed TP53 accumulation (p = 0.003). Patients with aneuploid tumours lived longer than patients with euploid tumours (p = 0.003). In the euploid, but not in the aneuploid group, TP53 and p21[sup WAF1/CIP1] were associated with cancer-specific survival (p = 0.002 and 0.02, respectively). Patients with > 50% TP53 expression had the longest survival time. Mutation analyses showed acceptable concordance with TP53 expression. We conclude that DNA aneuploidy may confer increased radiosensitivity in bladder cancer patients and that TP53 accumulation may confer increased radiosensitivity, but its effect is detectable only in euploid tumours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primary rat hepatocellular tumours, induced by a combination of diethylnitrosamine and 2-acetylaminofluorene, were examined for the presence of neuroendocrine peptides by immunocytochemlcal methods. Two-thirds of the tumours showed positive immunostaining for either neuron-specific enolase (NSE), protein S-100 or bombesin. NSE was commonly observed both in hepatocarcinomas and in neoplastic nodules, whereas protein S-100 was more frequently seen in carcinomas (49% positive) than in nodules (13% positive). Bombesin, previously shown to function as an autocrine growth factor in small-cell carcinoma of the lung, was present in neurosecretory granules in 13% of the nodules and 29% of the carcinomas. Normal, preneoplastic and peritumorous liver tissue, including the frequent atypical foci present in the latter two categories, was uniformly negative for all neuroendocrine markers. The foci, like the nodules and carcinomas, generally stained positively for the liver tumour marker glutathione S-transferase type P (GS The results suggest that dysdifferentiation of altered hepatocytes in a neuroendocrine direction may be a common, late event in liver carcinogenesis which could possibly contribute to tumour formation, e.g. by establishing autocrine or paracrine circuits. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Detection of E6/E7 mRNA expression using the real-time nucleic acid sequence-based amplification assay (NASBA) PreTect HPV-Proofer was compared with results of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA detection in 98 paraffin-embedded samples from patients with cervical adenocarcinoma. HR-HPV DNA was detected in 61 (62%), while HR-HPV E6/E7 mRNA was detected in 63 (64%) of the samples. Correlation between results from DNA analyses and the E6/E7 mRNA assay showed consistent results in 87% of samples (47 of 54). The results from these two methods in detecting presence of HPV infection of any type agreed in 77%. Overall agreement between the methods was seen in 82 of the 98 cases (84%). When evaluating change in sensitivity for detection of HPV positives by adding more HPV types to the HPV DNA assay, maximum sensitivity was reached by targeting four HPV types. The coverage of HPV DNA presence was 76.9%, while the E6/E7 mRNA assay achieved a maximum coverage of 80.8% using only three HPV types. Thus, E6/E7 oncogene expression analysis may provide a more objective test for assessment of neoplastic glandular cells. Further studies may reveal whether the clinical performance of the E6/E7 mRNA assay will be of prognostic value in management of cervical adenocarcinoma.

The purpose of this study was to compare the detection of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA with detection of mRNA. The study included 4,136 women >30 years of age. E6/E7 mRNA expression from the carcinogenic HPV types 16, 18, 31, 33, and 45 was detected by the PreTect HPV-Proofer assay, whereas the presence of HPV DNA was detected by Gp5+/6+ consensus PCR followed by type-specific PCR. A total of 4.0% had an abnormal cytologic diagnosis, 3.0% were positive by PreTect HPV-Proofer, 4.4% by type-specific PCR, and 10.4% by consensus PCR. For detection of HPV in high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL), no significant difference was observed between PreTect HPV-Proofer and consensus PCR. For women with a cytologic normal, atypical squamous cell of uncertain significance, and low-grade SIL diagnosis, the detection rate of HPV was significantly higher by Gp5+/6+ consensus PCR (P < 0.005) than by PreTect HPV-Proofer. Histology confirmed 14 of 23 cytologic HSIL as cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade >2. Of these women, PreTect HPV-Proofer and type-specific PCR detected 12, whereas consensus PCR detected 13. In conclusion, for HSIL, detection of E6/E7 transcripts from HPV types 16, 18, 31, 33, and 45 are present to the same degree as DNA detected by consensus PCR. Equally important, only a small proportion of the HPV DNA-positive women with a normal, atypical squamous cell of uncertain significance or low-grade SIL diagnosis had a detectable mRNA expression. HPV E6/E7 mRNA detection by PreTect HPV-Proofer represents a new promising test as an adjunct to cytology.