Gene mutation is known to
play an important
role in
carcinogenesis.There are two types of
p53 gene,wild-type and mutant-type.In order to observe the relationship between
p53 gene mutation and cutaneous squarnous epithelial ceil tumours,immunohistochemical study was carried out for p53 ex- pression in the
epidermis from 29
patients with cutaneous
squamous epithelial cell tumouts using a new immunohistochemical
technique labelled
streptavidin biotin system.The results showed that p53 positive
staining was only confined to areas of atypical proliferation of epithelia in 3/6 cases of
actinic keratosis. 6/10 cases of
Bowen's disease and 8/13 cases of
squamous cell carcinoma showed that p53 positive
staining was seen throughout the tumour.It is suggested that
p53 gene mutation might
play an impor- tant
role in cutaneous squamous epithlial
cell tumour formation.