Predictive Value of P53-Positive Cells for Esophageal Cancer Micrometastasis

Abstract Esophageal cancer is the fastest growing malignancy of any tumor in the United States with an increased incidence of adenocarcinoma across all socioeconomic boundaries. The stage and the residual tumor classification are the most important prognostic factors. However, patients with similar stage of disease show a marked difference in survival. Therefore, there are needs to identify new molecular prognostic markers that may help to better assess the survival probability. The recently introduced genetic diagnosis of cancer micrometastasis is quite attractive because of its high detection sensitivity. Not infrequently, however, there are marked discrepancies between genetic and conventional histologic diagnoses, especially concerning lymph nodes from carcinoma patients. Alterations in the p53 tumor suppressor gene are the most frequent genetic changes found in breast and lung cancer. The p53 gene functions as a negative regulator of cell growth. Alterations in the gene lead to loss of its usual negative growth regulation and more rapid cell proliferation.