To improve segregation between ADC and SqCC in small samples, the classification of lung cancer was updated in 2011, adding immunohistochemistry (IHC) for p63 and TTF-1 to the diagnostic algorithm.
Although p63 and its isoforms are overexpressed in a wide variety of human malignancies such as cervical, head and neck, and lung cancer, their role in endometrial carcinoma has not been investigated.
A common set of genes dysregulated in lung cancer was obtained, including BPA1, DUSP6, ASCL1, RNAS1 and S100P. p63 and CK 5/6 p63 are useful for differentiating adenocarcinoma and small cell lung cancer from squamous cell carcinoma.
Transient expression of p63 transactivated the maspin promoter with remarkable fold changes in cells expressing the TAp63, suggesting that TAp63 might be a novel stimulator of the maspin promoter in lung cancer.
These observations suggest that p63 genomic amplification has an early role in lung tumorigenesis and deserves additional evaluation as a biomarker for lung cancer progression.