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Departments of Otorhinolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, Heinrich-Heine-University, D-40225 Düsseldorf [V. B., K. S., H. B.]; University Hospital, D-68135 Mannheim [K. G.]; General Hospital, D-36043 Fulda [U. B.]; and Institute of Pathology, Charité, Humboldt University, D-10098 Berlin [I. P.], Germany
| ABSTRACT |
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| Introduction |
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40% of SCCHN3
(1
, 2)
. There have been many attempts to establish p53 as a marker of progression, prognosis, and response to antineoplastic treatment. However, a considerable range of mutation frequencies has been reported based on different methods of assessment of the p53 status, such as immunohistochemical detection of accumulated protein or partial sequence analysis of genomic DNA (3)
. As yet, the predictive value of p53 mutations remains unresolved because of contradictory results (4)
. To establish a firm basis for the assessment of the p53 status in a large series of SCCHN, we sequenced the entire coding region of p53 transcript, i.e., exons 211. In addition, we determined the frequency of E6 transcripts of HPV 16 and 18 in these tumors. Inactivation of p53 can occur through its enhanced degradation via complex formation with the E6 oncoprotein of the high-risk HPV 16 and 18 (5) , and this mechanism is considered to be particularly relevant in SCCHN (2 , 6) .
| Materials and Methods |
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Analysis of p53 Transcript.
In a previous study, we demonstrated that RNA for p53 transcript analysis can be readily isolated from frozen sections of SCCHN (7)
. Ample levels of mutated p53 transcript were present in the tumor cells, and wild-type p53 expression in adjacent normal cells did not interfere with the detection of aberrant transcripts. The same protocol was used in the present study. Briefly, tumor RNA was isolated from a 25-µm section of snap-frozen tumor specimens with the QIAshredder and RNeasy-Kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany) and reverse transcribed using random hexanucleotides and Superscript (Life Technologies, Inc., Eggenstein, Germany), according to the manufacturers instruction. Aliquots of the conversion mixture were amplified by PCR in a thermal cycler (Biometra, Göttingen, Germany) with specific primers (Table 1)
and Qiagen Master Mix (Qiagen), subdividing the p53 transcript into three overlapping amplification products (7
, 8) . The PCR comprised 35 cycles of denaturation for 30 s at 95°C, annealing for 30 s at 64°C, and extension for 1 min at 72°C. The amplification reaction was preceded by 3 min at 95°C and followed by 7 min at 72°C. The quality of RNA preparations was controlled by RT-PCR of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase. Amplificates were checked on an ethidium bromide-stained agarose gel. The samples were purified with spin columns (Millipore, Eschborn, Germany) and mixed with specific oligonucleotide primers and PRISM BigDye Terminator Cycle Sequencing Ready Reaction kit (ABI, Weiterstadt, Germany). The cycle sequencing reaction consisted of 25 cycles of denaturation for 15 s at 96°C and annealing and extension for 4 min at 60°C. The sequencing products were purified using gel filtration columns (DyeEx Spin Kit; Qiagen) and analyzed with a semiautomated sequencer (ABI 310).
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| Results |
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Finally, characteristics of patients (age and gender) and tumors (localization, grading, and Tumor-Node-Metastasis stage) were correlated with the occurrence and type of both p53 alterations and E6 transcripts. Mutations of p53 were equally frequent in carcinomas of the hypopharynx (27 of 30; 90%), larynx (35 of 44; 80%), and p.o. cavity (11 of 14; 79%). In contrast, aberrant p53 transcripts were identified in only 15 (45%) of 33 oropharyngeal tumors. Correspondingly, the prevalence of HPV 16/18 E6 transcripts was considerably higher in carcinomas of the oropharynx (17 of 33; 52%) as compared with those of the hypopharynx (8 of 30; 27%), p.o. cavity (4 of 14; 29%), or larynx (8 of 44; 18%). None of the other parameters showed any significant correlations (data not shown).
| Discussion |
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80%. Furthermore, the majority of p53 wild-type tumors turned out to harbor the oncogenic E6 transcript. Thus, the percentage of SCCHN that presumably lacks normal p53 function amounts to an impressive 95% in this series. In addition, it must be remembered that various other mechanisms are known to interfere with normal p53 activity in cancer cells, e.g., overexpression of mdm-2 or inactivation of p14ARF (9 , 10) . Moreover, biallelic loss of the gene or transcriptional silencing of p53, both of which have been reported in SCCHN cell lines (7) , results in a complete loss of transcript in tumor cells. Because of wild-type p53 transcript expression in adjacent normal cells, which is amplified in an RT-PCR-based approach, such aberrations and epigenetic mechanisms remain unidentified in the analysis of tissue samples. The present study, therefore, provides strong support for the concept of p53 inactivation being a prerequisite for the development of SCCHN.
It is well accepted that p53 regulates cell cycle progression as well as apoptotic cell death (11) . Thus, the inactivation of the p53 stress response pathway would provide precancerous cells with a selective advantage for unregulated growth and the acquisition of genetic alterations on the one hand (12) . On the other hand, it would supply manifest cancer cells with a pivotal mechanism to avoid apoptosis, which is otherwise promoted through the activation of oncogenes and accumulation of DNA damage in the multistep process of carcinogenesis (13 , 14) .
Because the p53 gene spreads over >20 kb, and because the majority of aberrations are missense mutations within the DNA-binding region, sequence analysis of genomic DNA is commonly restricted to exons 58 or 59. For SCCHN, such investigations have generated an average p53 mutation frequency < 50%. In a comprehensive study, Gillison et al. (2) performed genomic DNA sequence analysis of exons 59 in a subgroup of 166 of 253 SCCHN and detected mutant p53 in 65 (39%) tumors. More recently, Sisk et al. (15) analyzed the DNA of exons 58 and identified mutant p53 in only 8 (25%) of 32 SCCHN. In contrast, analysis of the entire coding region, i.e., exons 211, also detects mutations outside the so-called hot spot region, which, as demonstrated here, may reveal an important percentage of p53 mutations. In the present series of 123 SCCHN, 23 (22%) of the 103 p53 mutations were located outside exons 59.
Mutations at exon/intron borders can result in incorrectly spliced transcripts, causing the complete or partial loss of exons or insertion of intronic sequences. In comparison with sequence analysis of genomic DNA, the transcript-based approach allows the accurate determination of the resulting, erroneously spliced transcript. Including our own preclinical study (7) , two in vitro investigations and a single clinical study comprising 20 tumor specimens have used previously p53 transcript analysis of the entire coding region in SCCHN (7 , 16 , 17) . In accordance with the present study, they also revealed high p53 mutation frequencies and noticeable numbers of aberrantly spliced transcripts. Furthermore, two studies analyzing both genomic DNA and transcript of p53 in SCCHN cell lines (7) and breast carcinoma specimens (18) have demonstrated that mutated p53 alleles sometimes fail to produce the corresponding transcript, probably attributable to epigenetic mechanisms or deletion of promotor sequences. Again, analysis of p53 RNA provides the advantage of detecting the expressed transcripts, which are likely to be translated into protein.
In the present series, p53 transcripts derived from the rare alleles of polymorphisms described previously at codons 21, 36, 47, and 213 were identified in only 7 (6%) SCCHN, which is well within the range reported for normal populations.4 Codon 72 polymorphism, on the other hand, was a frequent event; in the majority of cases, we detected transcripts coding for the arginine variant, followed by arginine-proline-coding transcripts, and solely proline-coding transcripts. This amino acid exchange is suggested to affect certain biochemical and functional properties of p53, including the interaction with viral E6 oncoprotein and induction of apoptosis (19 , 20) . However, because allele frequencies of the codon 72 polymorphism are known to show considerable differences in distinct populations (21) , it remains to be determined whether the prevalence of transcripts coding for arginine reflects the allele distribution in the German population or may indeed confer an enhanced susceptibility to SCCHN.
Increase in the turnover of p53 protein is believed to be the most significant oncogenic property of the multifunctional HPV 16 and 18 E6 proteins (5) . Because we have observed the respective E6 transcripts in 37 SCCHN, their presence in these tumors is likely to be of biological relevance (6) . In this regard, the high frequency of E6 transcript detection in p53 wild type (77%) as compared with p53 mutant (18%) SCCHN is particularly remarkable. According to previous reports and confirmed by us, the majority of E6-positive carcinomas was localized in the oropharynx (2 , 15) . Prospective studies should further examine the potential clinical relevance of p53 mutations and/or high-risk HPV E6 expression in this particular disease.
The pivotal role of p53 in cancer development and progression, as well as tumor response to both radiotherapy and antineoplastic drugs, has tempted many researchers to establish the p53 status as a prognostic factor for survival or predictive marker for treatment outcome. Thus far, however, such studies have not succeeded in clearly demonstrating the anticipated correlations but instead resulted in contradictory observations (10) . There may be several reasons for this: (a) in most instances, the p53 status was assessed with inadequate methods, such as immunohistochemistry, single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis, or partial sequence analysis (7 , 10 , 17) ; (b) diverse types and localizations of p53 mutations as well as other mechanisms of p53 inactivation are supposed to exert differential effects on cancer behavior and, consequently, on the course of disease (2 , 22 , 23) . As shown here, 95% of the SSCHN lack normal p53 function; therefore, inactivation of p53 per se is not a suitable choice for a prognostic or predictive marker; and (c) elementary requirements for planning, conduction, and analysis of clinical studies on prognostic and predictive factors are frequently disregarded. In particular, this applies to the utilization of historical data, sample size, heterogeneity of patients with respect to disease and treatment, and biometric considerations (24 , 25) .
In the past, the incidence of p53 mutations in SCCHN, and potentially other malignancies, has been considerably underestimated. It is quite obvious that a significant number of p53 aberrations is missed when the analysis is confined to DNA of exons 58 or 59. Furthermore, the majority of p53 wild-type SCCHN expresses high-risk HPV E6 transcript. The likely inactivation of p53 in almost all SCCHN has a major impact on the interpretation of earlier reports and the design of future investigations on p53 in this disease. Finally, this result emphasizes the potential of novel treatment strategies that either restore p53 function or target p53 dysfunction (26 , 27) .
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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| FOOTNOTES |
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1 V. Balz and K. Scheckenbach contributed equally to this work. ![]()
2 To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at Heinrich-Heine-University, Department of Otorhinolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, Moorenstr. 5, D-40225 Düsseldorf, Germany. Phone: 49 (211) 811 7570; Fax: 49 (211) 811 8880; E-mail: bierh{at}uni-duesseldorf.de ![]()
3 The abbreviations used are: SCCHN, squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck; RT-PCR, reverse transcription-PCR; HPV, human papillomavirus. ![]()
4 Internet address: www.iarc.fr/p53/Polymorphism.html. ![]()
Received 12/16/02. Accepted 1/27/03.
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