P53 expression in colorectal carcinoma: the University of Malaya Medical Centre's experience

Loss of P53 function is regarded as one of the critical steps in colorectal carcinogenesis. This study determines the P53 expression pattern of colorectal carcinoma in a cohort of 116 local patients. There was no significant relationship between overexpression of P53 with tumour stage (p=-0.209, chi square test) and grade (p=0.877, chi square test). Survival analysis using Kaplan-Meier procedure did not show significant relationship between P53 positivity with overall recurrence-free and survival outcome (p=0.3322 and 0.921 respectively; log rank test). Long-term follow-up may give a better evaluation on the prognostic value of P53 overexpression in colorectal carcinoma.