Abstract

Introduction: Mutations of the p53 gene as determined by mutation analysis and/or positive immunohistochemical (IHC) staining for p53 are common in ovarian cancer and have been associated with poor clinical outcome. However, results of the many studies on the prognostic value of p53 expression are inconclusive. Hence the present study was conducted to study immunohistochemical expression of p53 gene in various ovarian lesions. Material and Methods: The present study was conducted to study p53 expression in ovarian lesions of different histogenesis. Paraffin embedded hematoxylin & eosin stained tissue sections were diagnosed histologically and subsequently stained immunohistochemically with p53 antibody. Statistical analysis was done using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0. Results: Of 30 malignant cases, serous carcinomas were the largest group with 16 cases (53.33%) followed by mucinous with 4 cases (17%). All benign and borderline tumors were p53 negative. 86.6% of the malignancies were p53 positive and amongst which maximum number was that of serous carcinomas (50%), followed by mucinous carcinomas (10%), two cases (6.6%) each of dysgernminomas and adult granulosa cell tumor followed by one case each (3.3%) of malignant Brenner tumor, malignant mixed germ cell tumor, immature teratoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the ovary. p53 expression was high in malignant serous carcinomas cases as compared to borderline and benign (p value < 0.001) with high apoptotic and mitotic indices. Conclusion: It is concluded that strong and diffuse nuclear expression of Tp53 can be used as robust method for inferring the presence of Tp53 gene mutation in high grade serous carcinomas and can be used as surrogate marker for diagnostic workup of carcinoma ovary.

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