Overexpression of the tumour suppressor gene p53 is not implicated in neuroendocrine tumour carcinogenesis.

The tumorigenesis of neuroendocrine tumours remains poorly understood, although a minority, the familial multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN 1 and MEN 2), are known to be of uncommon genetic origin. Mutation of the tumour suppressor gene, p53, is now known to be a common genetic alteration in about half of all types of non-endocrine cancers. In the present study, immunocytochemistry using the monoclonal anti-p53 antibody, DO-7, has been employed to investigate the accumulation of p53 immunoreactivity in a wide range of primary neuroendocrine tumours. Tumours (n = 109) were fixed and processed to paraffin wax according to a constant protocol. Sections were subjected to microwave antigen retrieval prior to immunostaining for p53. Positive nuclear immunostaining was observed in one medullary carcinoma of the thyroid (MCT), one lung carcinoid, and five small cell carcinomas of the lung (SCCL). All other tumour samples were consistently negative. As the neoplasia investigated in this study comprised a wide spectrum of neuroendocrine tumour types and ranged from minute, relatively benign lesions to malignant metastasizing disease and as there was no relationship between the presence of p53 overexpression and clinico-pathological features, the present study suggests that p53 gene mutation may be relatively unimportant in the genesis of neuroendocrine tumours.