ABSTRACT
Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the diagnostic utility of p53 in differentiating oral squamous papilloma and squamous cell carcinoma
Study Design: A cross-sectional study
Setting: Pathology Department of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Center Lahore
Period: Six months [6-10-10 to 6-04-11]
Patients and Methods: A total of 100 oral biopsies fulfilling the inclusion criteria were collected. The expression of P53 was observed in biopsies of squamous papilloma and squamous cell carcinoma. Data was entered and analyzed on SPSS version 20 and was analyzed in same package. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive and negative predictive values were calculated along their confidence intervals at 95% level
Results: One hundred oral lesions were studied, of which 90 cases were of squamous cell carcinoma and 10 cases were of squamous papilloma. Majority of the patients were male [60%]. Mean age was 46 years. P53 IHC stain had sensitivity of 92% and specificity of 80% and diagnostic utility of 91% in lesions of squamous cell carcinoma
Conclusion: P53 is positively expressed in oral squamous cell carcinoma and is negative in squamous papilloma. Hence evaluation of p53 expression can be a useful adjunct in the diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma, especially in cases where it is difficult to distinguish between these two entities on morphological grounds