PURPOSE: to evaluate the association between p53 and Ki-67 expression in the tumor and clinicopathological features in patients with carcinoma of the cervix. METHODS: samples were taken from the tumor of 36 patients with stage IB (FIGO) cervical carcinoma submitted to radical hysterectomy. Tissue samples were taken from the tumor, fixed in formalin and embedded in paraffin. The specimens were analyzed by histopathology (hematoxylin and eosin) and immunohistochemically evaluated using monoclonal antibodies for p53 and Ki-67. Data were analyzed statistically by the chi2 test to evaluate eventual differences between the groups. RESULTS: the age of the patients ranged from 27 to 73 years (48.7±10.4 years). Clinical stage (FIGO) was IB1 in 27 cases (75%) and IB2 in 9 cases (25%). A positive tumoral expression of the p53 protein was found in half of the cases. In relation to the Ki-67 expression, a high cell proliferation index was shown in 73.3% of the cases. There was no association between tumoral p53 and Ki-67 expression with age (p=0.091 and 0.900), clinical stage (p=0.054 and 0.667), histological classification (p=0.674 and 0.674), grade of differentiation (p=0.070 and 0.282), presence of lymphatic vascular space invasion (p=0.248 and 0.667), parametrial involvement (p=0.729 and 0.763) and pelvic lymph node metastasis (p=0.729 and 0.636, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: tumoral expression of p53 and Ki-67 was not associated with the clinicopathological features in patients with stage IB carcinoma of the cervix.
Cervix neoplasms; Oncogenes; Protein p53; Ki-67 antigen
