Association of the expression of p53 and p16INK4A with the clinical and morphological characteristicsof patients with head and neck squamous cell cancer

Abstract

To identify the expression of the molecular markers p53 and p16INK4A in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and to assess their impact on its clinical and morphological characteristics and overall survival (OS) rates in patients with HNSCC. Histological blocks were immunohistochemically studied using anti-p16 and p53 monoclonal antibodies in Krasnodar Clinical Oncology Dispensary One in 2011 to 2016. Overexpression of p16INK4A was established in the presence of 3 and 4 staining points (nuclear and/or cytoplasmic staining in 40% or more tumor cells). That of p53 was determined in the presence of nuclear staining (3+) in more than 50% of tumor cells. Overexpression of p16 was found in 15 (27%) patients (9 (60%) men and 6 (40%) women). The p16-positive tumor status was associated with the female sex (p=0.023), which was characteristic of tonsil cancer (p<0.001) and represented by the nonkeratinizing type (p=0.008). Overexpression of p16 was associated with more frequent regional lymph node metastases (p=0.029). Overexpression of p53 was related to G2 tumor (p=0.021) and expression of p53 was less than 50% associated with tongue body cancer (p=0.004). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the 3-year OS in p16-positive HNSCC patients was significantly higher than that in p16-negative ones (p=0.048). Significantly higher OS rates were observed in p16-positive HNSCC patients than in p16INK4A-negative ones for Stage III-IV (p=0.021). OS rates in HNSCC patients with co-expression of p16INK4A (3 and 4 points) and p53 (3+) were significantly higher than in the absence of a combination of these molecular markers (p=0.049). At the same time, OS in HNSCC patients with co-expression of p16INK4A (3 and 4 points), p53 (3+) was significantly higher than in the absence of a set of these molecular markers for stage III-IV (p=0.01). OS in patients with Stages I-II HNNSCC and co-expression of p16INK4A (3 and 4 points) and p53 (3+) did not significantly differ from that in the absence of a set of these molecular markers (p=0.960). Overexpression of p16INK4A (3 and 4 points) can be used as a prognostic marker to divide patients into subgroups with different clinical and morphological characteristics. The data on the correlation of p53 overexpression as a marker of mutations in the TP53 gene are contradictory and the study has not revealed the worst overall survival rates. A set of markers for the expression of p16 (≥40%) and p53 (≥50%) has been proposed for use as a favorable prognostic sign.