摘要
AIM To study the correlationship between the changes of p53, Waf1p21 and the cell proliferation determined by PCNA at different stages of human esophageal carcinogenesis. METHODS Biopsied and resected esophageal tissues from a high risk population for esophageal cancer in northern China were used in this study. All the specimens were fixed with 85% alcohol and further processed with routine histology. The avidin biotin peroxidase complex (ABC) method was used for the detection of p53, Waf1p21 and PCNA. RESULTS The strong nuclear staining for p53, Waf1p21 and PCNA was observed in the normal esophageal epithelium and the epithelia with different severities of lesions. As the lesions progressed to dysplasia (DYS) and to esophageal squamons cell carcinoma (SCC), the percentage of Waf1p21 immunoreactivity decreased. The number of Waf1p21 immunostaining positive cells increased slightly from normal to basal cell hyperplasia (BCH), but there was no further increase in DYS and in SCC. The total number of positive cells for Waf1p21 stain appeared to be lower than that of p53 in normal and BCH esophageal epithelia and much lower in DYS and SCC. The Waf1p21 positive immunostaining cells were located at the third and forth cell layers in half of the samples examined, which was 2～4 cell layers higher than that of PCNA and p53 in the same histological categories of normal, BCH and DYS. CLNCLUSION The low levels of Waf1p21 at the stage of DYS may be related to a functional loss of p53. Other mechanisms may also be responsible to the lack of Waf1p21 expression in DYS and SCC.
