immunohistochemistry assessment of p53 protein in basal cell carcinoma

the most frequently mutated tumor suppressor gene found in human cancer is p53. in a normal situation, p53 is activated upon the induction of dna damage to either arrest the cell cycle or else induce apoptosis. however, when mutated, p53 is no longer able to properly accomplish these functions. our aim was to investigate p53 protein alteration in cases of basal cell carcinoma (bcc) and compare it with the control group. we investigated p53 gene expression in 41 cases of basal cell carcinoma and 20 patients with benign skin disease as control group. the alteration of p53 protein was investigated by immunohistochemistry method. the data were analyzed using spss package, t and chi-square tests. twenty eight out of 41 basal cell carcinoma and 3 out of 20 control were p53-mutated, and there was a statistically significant difference in cases of bcc in comparison with controls (2 test; p= 0.0001). taken together, showing alteration of p53 protein, our findings could add to the knowledge that might contribute to the self-maintenance of cancer cells and development of basal cell carcinoma.