Two biopsy samples, one each from the middle-third and the lower-third of the esophagus, from each subject, were taken from 55 symptom-free subjects in a high incidence area for esophageal cancer in Huixian, Henan Province, China. p53 protein accumulation and p53 gene mutation were analyzed in the multifocal esophageal precancerous lesions from these subjects.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence of MDM2 and its relationship to the expression of p53 in oral squamous cell carcinoma and precancerous lesions.
The different histological forms of both esophageal and gastric carcinomas as well as their differing etiologies result in the possibility that a spectrum of genetic changes is involved in different tumor types. p53 abnormalities occur frequently in tumors arising in both organs, and in both sites p53 abnormalities can be observed in precancerous lesions as well as in overt cancer.