Prognostic significance of p53 expression in ovarian granulosa cell tumors

Objective. The purpose of the study was to investigate the significance of p53 expression for the prognosis in patients with ovarian granulosa cell tumors (GCT). Methods. The records of 30 patients operated on for GCT at Tampere University Hospital, Finland, were reviewed. The mean age at the time of the diagnosis was 55 years. Twenty-one of the tumors were of FIGO stage I, three were of stage II, three were of stage III, and three were of stage IV. Paraffin-embedded tumor specimens were analyzed by immunohistochemistry for expression of mutated p53 protein and by how cytometry. Results. Eleven tumors were positive for p53 and 19 were negative. The median crude survival of p53-negative patients was 10 times that of p53-positive ones (210 months vs 21 months, P = 0.037, log-rank test). The association between p53 immunoreactivity and stage was statistically significant (P = 0.026 Pearson chi(2) test), while there was no association between p53 expression and DNA ploidy or S-phase fraction. Conclusion. Although the results should be considered as preliminary, expression of mutated p53 in ovarian granulosa cell tumors seems to be associated with unfavorable prognosis. (C) 1997 Academic Press.