p53 accumulation in benign breast biopsy specimens

Mamoun Younes, Russell M. Lebovitz, Kathryn E. Bommer, Philip T. Cagle, Deborah Morton, Shaista Khan, Rodolfo Laucirica

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

43 Scopus citations

Abstract

Several studies of benign breast lesions using methacran-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues and cytological preparations have suggested that p53 accumulation in these lesions as detected by immunohistochemical (IHC) staining is rare to absent. As a result, several different investigators have suggested that p53 immunoreactivity in breast specimens infers a diagnosis of malignancy or may identify premalignant lesions. We immunostained 271 breast biopsy specimens from 271 patients with the monoclonal anti-p53 antibody BP53-12 and found positive nuclear staining in seven of 23 malignant lesions (30%) and 39 of 248 benign biopsy specimens (16%). Of the benign lesions, 30% of fibroadenomas, nonpremalignant breast lesions, were positive. Long-term follow-up information was available on 48 patients with benign biopsy specimens and showed that 12% of those positive and 7% of those negative for p53 developed breast carcinoma. This difference was not significant (P > .2). We conclude that (1) p53 immunoreactivity in breast lesions should not be used as exclusive evidence of malignancy and (2) p53 immunoreactivity in benign breast lesions may not identify a subset of patients at increased risk for breast carcinoma.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)155-158
Number of pages4
JournalHuman Pathology
Volume26
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1995

Keywords

  • breast cancer
  • fibroadenoma
  • fibrocystic disease
  • immunohistochemistry
  • p53

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Pathology and Forensic Medicine

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