. ASSESSMENT OF P53 PROTEIN EXPRESSION IN HUMAN SALIVARY GLANDS NEOPLASMS

Abstract

The P53 gene is a tumor suppressor gene, located on the shmi arm of chromosome 17. Point mutations in the P53 gene result in an increased stability of the mutant protein which can be detected by immunohistochemistry, whereas, the wild type P53 protein is undetectable due to its short half-life. Immunohistochemical identification of P53 has been associated with a wide range of hmnan malignancies indicating that its detection may be. useful as a marker of malignancy because it is the gene most frequently mutated in human cancer.

This study was conducted to assess the expression ofP53 in benign and malignant salivary gland tumors and compare its existence to that in the normal human salivary gland tissues.

The material of this study consisted of 75 archival lesions of salivary gland tumors and five postmortem normal salivary gland tissues.