Immunohistochemical Analysis of p53 Protein Expression in Gastric Carcinoma and its Association with Tumour Stage

Background: Mutation in the TP53 suppressor gene and accumulation of p53 protein are the common genetic events in gastric carcinomas. This mutation has been associated with abnormalities in cell cycle regulation, DNA repair and synthesis, apoptosis, and is suggested to be implicated in the prognosis of gastric carcinoma. Objective: The purpose of the present study was to assess the immunohistochemical expression of p53 protein in gastric adenocarcinoma and to study the association between p53 protein expression and tumour staging, including depth of invasion and regional lymph node involvement. Methodology: In this cross-sectional observational study, 60 paraffin blocks of gastric adenocarcinoma were re-evaluated, and depth of invasion and regional lymph node involvement were assessed. The p53 expression in the tumour cell nucleus of the submitted blocks was assessed by the standard immunoperoxidase method. Appropriate positive control were run for each batch of slides. Results: In this study, out of 60, forty cases (66.67%) showed high expression of p53 protein. Our study showed a statistically significant association of p53 protein expression with depth of invasion of tumour (p < 0.001) and regional lymph node involvement (p < 0.001). Conclusion: There was a significant association between immunohistochemical expression of p53 protein and tumour staging, including depth of invasion of tumour and regional lymph node involvement. These results indicate that immunohistochemical expression of p53 protein is an important prognostic factor of gastric carcinoma, allowing the selection of a group of patients with an extensive therapeutic indication. Journal of National Institute of Neurosciences Bangladesh, January 2026;12(1):110-114