The Relationship between the Expression of p27Kip1, p53 and theInfiltration, Metastasis and Prognosis in Gastric Carcinoma

Objective: To study the relationship between the expression of p27^Kip1 and p53, and the infiltration, metastasis and prognosis in gastric carcinoma. Methods: The expression of p27^Kip1 and p53at protein level was determined by immunohistochemical assay (two-step method) in 100 cases of gastriccarcinoma. Results: Of the 100 cases, the positive rate of p27^Kip1 and p53 expressions were 44% and49%, respectively. In the group of gastric carcinomas with deep infiltration (infiltration group), lymphnodes metastasis group (metastasis group) and death-within-5-years group (death group), the expressionof p27^Kip1 was statistically lower (P<0.05). In the metastasis group and death group, the expression of p53was significantly higher (P<0.05). The results of the monovariate analysis revealed that the 5-year survivalrate of the high p27^Kip1 expression group was 70.59%, which is higher than those of the low p27^Kip1 expressiongroup (54.55%) and the negative experession group (26%). The 5-year survival rate of the high p53expression group was 19.23%, which was lower than those of the p53 low expression group (43.75%) andthe negative group (53.19%). Cox multivariate analysis showed that p27^Kip1, like p53, was an independentprognostic index. But p27^Kip1 protein expression was a stronger independent survival predictor (RR=3.06)than p53 expression (RR=2.33). Conclusion: The low expression of p27^Kip1 and the high expression ofp53 reflected the more frequent invasion and metastasis, which resulted in the reduced survival of patients.As an independent markers of the gastric carcinoma, the expression of p27^Kip1 is more useful than that ofp53 in the prognosis prediction of gastric carcinoma.