Association of p53 arginine polymorphism with skin cancer

Background The presence of arginine at codon 72 in p53 protein is proposed to be a genetic risk factor in human papillomavirus (HPV)-related carcinogenesis. Objective To study the prevalence of p53 polymorphism at codon 72 in skin biopsies of epidermodysplasia verruciformis (EV) patients compared to DNA samples from healthy individuals. Patients and methods DNA samples extracted from normal skin and tumor biopsies of 22 Brazilian patients with EV and blood samples from 27 healthy Brazilian individuals were studied for p53 codon 72 polymorphisms using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. Results All EV patients with the malignant form of EV were homozygous for arginine (Arg/Arg) at codon 72 of the p53 gene, in contrast to none with the benign form (P < 0.0001). Conclusions p53 arginine polymorphism is likely to be associated with the development of skin malignancies in EV patients from Brazil.