Background: Subserosal carcinoma is the stage that presents the greatest difficulty in the diagnosis therapeutic handling and prognosis evaluation.
Aim: To study the expression of p53 and p27 genes in subserosal gallbladder cancer.
Material and methods: One hundred twenty seven tissue samples of subserosal gallbladder cancer (coming from 112 females aged 62+/-13 years and 15 men aged 67+/-17 years) and 50 control samples were selected to construct tissue arrays. p53 and p27 genes were determined by immunohistochemistry.
Results: Thirty eight percent of tumors were not detected at the macroscopic examination, 52% and 17% had lymph node and blood vessel involvement, respectively. Fifty six and 46% were positive for p53 and p27, respectively. No association between the expression of both genes and gender, degree of differentiation, lymph node or blood vessel involvement, was observed. Overall five years actuarial survival was 32%. Patients with positive or negative p53 expression had a 22% and 53% survival, respectively (p=0.05). No association between survival and p27 expression was observed.
Conclusions: p53 gene expression is a prognostic factor for subserosal gallbladder cancer.