Distribution of p53 protein expression in gliosarcomas: an immunohistochemical study

The wild-type p53 gene product is a nuclear phosphoprotein that suppresses cell and tumor growth. Mutations of the p53 gene are by now the most frequently recognized genetic alterations in human malignancies and occur in many types of carcinomas as well as in astrocytomas and sarcomas. Wild-type p53 protein has a short half-life, is present in very low quantities in normal cells and cannot be detected immunohistochemically. Mutant p53 proteins have longer half-lives and are usually present in immunohistologically detectable amounts. It is generally agreed that the presence of p53 immunostaining indicates the presence of an abnormal p53 protein and is strongly suggestive of a mutation in the p53 gene. In this study, we stained paraffin sections from eight samples of gliosarcomas from seven patients with an antibody to p53. All tumors contained p53-immunoreactive nuclei in both the glial and the sarcomatous component. In five tumors, a majority of nuclei was positive in the sarcomatous component while only a minority of nuclei was positive in the glial areas. In one tumor, the reverse was seen. In another tumor, approximately half the nuclei were positive in both components and in one tumor, only a minority of nuclei were positive in either component (this lesion was the recurrence of a tumor in which the majority of the sarcoma's nuclei had been positive). These data indicate that p53 mutations may play a role in the pathogenesis of gliosarcomas and suggest an origin of both the glial and sarcomatous components from a common progenitor.