Prognostic importance of p53 and c-erbB-2 oncoproteins overexpression in patients with breast cancer.

Using immunohistochemistry, 119 breast cancer tissues were examined for overexpression of p53 and c-erbB-2 oncogene proteins. In 46 (38.7%) of the cases p53 was overexpressed, while 35 (29.4%) demonstrated positive c-erbB-2 immunostaining. Expression of these two oncogene products was closely correlated (p < 0.01). There was no significant association between p53 protein expression and age of the patients, clinical stage, tumor size, number of involved nodes or estrogen receptor status. However, we found significant correlation between p53 protein expression and 5-year disease-free survival (p = 0.0113). In addition, the findings in this study clearly indicated that the co-overexpression of p53 and c-erbB-2 proteins was a powerful predictor for early recurrence in the patients with breast cancer.