Apoptotic regulators: P53 and survivin expression in non-small cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND

Survivin and p53 are proteins that take part in cell cycle and apoptosis regulation. The biological function of survivin is essential for its oncogenic potential. The p53 protein is known to be a guardian of the genome and alterations in its structure enhance resistance to apoptosis. The aim of this study was to detect survivin and p53 expression in 74 non-small cell lung cancer in relation to basic clinicopathological data including the two-year prognosis.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A total of 74 patients with non-small cell lung cancer were recruited into the study. Marker presence was revealed using immunohistochemical methods on paraffin-embedded tissue.

RESULTS

The presence of p53 was visible in 52.7% of cases and its expression did not correlate with clinicopathological data. Survivin immunoreactivity was detected in 52.7% of all study cases and was statistically more often found in lung adenocarcinomas than in squamous cell subtype of lung cancer (67% and 37% respectively, p=0.03). Larger tumours, cancer with lymph node metastases and more advanced tumours according to TNM status showed higher incidence of survivin expression, but differences did not reach statistical significance. The survivin immunoreactivity did not correlate with the two-year survival.

CONCLUSION

P53 protein expression did not appear to be a clinically important tumour marker. The clearly visible trend to more frequent survivin presence in more advanced non-small cell lung tumours needs further evaluation. The statistically significant difference in survivin immunoreactivity between two major pathological types of non-small cell lung cancer may be important for better selection of patients for specific biological therapy based on apoptosis regulation.