Evaluation of protein products of cell cycle regulating genes in gastric cancer.

Formalin fixed, paraffin embedded tissue samples of 45 gastric carcinomas, resected curatively, were used for the study. An immunohistochemical analysis employed monoclonal antibodies: p53 (No N1581, DAKO) and p27KIP1 (NCL-p27KIP1, Novocastra). Positive nuclear protein expression was assessed at the 30% level. We found no correlations between the expression of either protein and Lauren's classification, the age of patients and tumour localization. Borderline significance of p=0.07 was noted in the association of p53 expression and histological differentiation. However, a decrease of p27 expression and an overexpression of p53 correlated with the presence of lymph node metastases (p<0.01). Simultaneously, the expression of p27 protein in main mass of tumour correlated with the lack of p53 expression in the main mass and lymph node metastases.