388P - Clinicopathological correlation of P53 expression in oral cancers

Background

More than 90% of cancers in the oral cavity are squamous cell carcinomas. Overall oral cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the world. Oral cancer is prevalent in southern Asia especially in India. Despite advancements in cancer treatment, head and neck squamous cell carcinomas remain a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and the five-year survival rate is still below 50%. In our study, we aimed to evaluate the overexpression of P53 in 155 oral squamous cell carcinomas and to correlate with various clinicopathological features like depth of invasion, lymph nodal involvement, and margin status, which affect the local recurrence and prognosis.

Methods

This cross-sectional study included 155 oral squamous cell carcinoma patients who underwent surgical resection of primary and nodal disease. The histopathological and clinical features were noted. After fixation, representative sections were given, and routine processing and embedding were done. Slides stained with hematoxylin and eosin. All samples from patients spotted in a tissue microarray were submitted to the immunohistochemistry (IHC) assay to detect TP53(Hu) qualitatively. IHC assay was performed using Ventana R BenchMark Ultra in an automated system according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Results

In the present study, out of 155 patients, 127(81.9%) are males, and the majority are more than 50 years (55%). The most common site of oral carcinoma is the tongue, followed by buccal mucosa. An aberrant or mutational type of P53 was seen in 90 cases (58%), while the wild type was observed in 65 patients (42%). Expression of P53 is more frequently seen in the Gingiva, followed by retromolar trigone, lip, buccal mucosa, and tongue.

Conclusions

In oral squamous cell carcinoma, expression of P53 is related to the severity of the disease. There is a significant association between P53 expression and advanced T stage, histopathological grade, increased depth of invasion, involved margin, positive nodes, and extranodal extension as there is a significant association between the involved margin and P53 expression, a frozen section is recommended during oral squamous cell carcinoma surgeries for free margins as microscopic margin involvement is more in P53 mutant types.

Clinical trial identification

Editorial acknowledgement

Legal entity responsible for the study

The author.

Funding

Has not received any funding.

Disclosure

The author has declared no conflicts of interest.