• Orlando Parise Junior, Leda Viegas Carvalho, Roberto Elias Villela Miguel, and Luiz Paulo Kowalski.
• Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Hospital AC Camargo, São Paulo, Brazil. oparise@uol.com.br
• Sao Paulo Med J. 2004 Nov 4; 122 (6): 264268264-8.

Contextp53, c-erbB-2 and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) are cancer-related proteins that are usually expressed in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Their prognostic value remains controversial.ObjectiveTo evaluate the prognostic impact of p53, c-erbB-2 and EGFR expression in head and neck SCC.Type Of StudyProspective.SettingHead and Neck Surgery Department, Hospital AC Camargo, São Paulo.MethodsFifty-four patients were studied for p53, c-erbB-2 and EGFR expression in head and neck SCC and adjacent mucosa, via immunohistochemistry. These data were correlated with histoclinical data and survival.ResultsThere was a direct association of p53 expression in SCC and mucosa (p = 0.001); loss of c-erbB-2 expression (-) from normal mucosa to SCC (p = 0.04); lower frequency of association of c-erbB-2 (+) with EGFR (-) in SCC (p = 0.02); and a direct association of EGFR (+) expression in SCC and mitotic index (p = 0.03). The 60-month actuarial survival rates for patients presenting lymph node metastasis were higher when there was no capsule rupture by SCC (48.3%; p = 0.02), no more than one positive lymph node (52.3%; p = 0.004) or clear surgical margins (47.0%; p = 0.01), in comparison with patients presenting capsule rupture (20.2%), two or more positive lymph nodes (18.7%) or compromised surgical margins (0.0%), respectively. Patients presenting SCC p53 (+) and EGFR (-) demonstrated greater survival (75.0%; p = 0.03) than for the remaining group (33.1%). Multivariate analysis confirmed the positive impact of p53 (+) and EGFR (-) on survival (p = 0.02).DiscussionAssociations were found for p53, c-erbB-2 and EGFR expression with histoclinical data and prognosis. Interestingly, these results suggest that loss of mucosal c-erbB-2 expression could be involved in SCC carcinogenesis; EGFR expression in SCC is related to tumor mitotic index; and presence of p53 with absence of EGFR expression in head and neck SCC may be a prognostic factor for survival.ConclusionsFurther prospective studies should be conducted to confirm the influence of p53, c-erbB-2 and EGFR on histoclinical data and prognosis.

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