Expression of p53 in oral squamous cell carcinoma and its association with risk habits in southern Thailand

Abstract 

Tobacco smoking and alcohol drinking are the principal factors associated with p53 expression in oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) in the west, whereas betel quid chewing and smokless tobacco are important factors in the east. Variable results of p53 expression have been reported and it has been proposed that ethnic difference and a variation in the indigenous oral habit may be responsible for the finding. This study, therefore, investigated p53 expression among 106 OSCC patients from a southern Thailand population in which all four risk behaviours, tobacco smoking, alcohol drinking, betel quid chewing and use of smokless tobacco, are practised. The associations of p53 expression with lifetime exposure to each risk behaviour were explored. Multivariate modelling showed that lifetime exposure to alcohol drinking was significantly positively associated with p53 expression (likelihood ratio P value 0.01). Betel quid chewing and tobacco smoking habit showed a trend of decreasing risk of p53 expression with increased lifetime exposure (OR 0.62, 95% CI 0.39–1.00 and OR 0.50, 95% CI 0.26–0.98, respectively). No significant association was found between p53 expression and clinico-pathological parameters. Further investigations are needed to study (1) the molecular alteration of p53 in each risk habit and (2) other possible pathways of oral carcinogenesis in betel quid- and tobacco smoking-associated OSCC in these group of patients.

Keywords:  p53, Immunohistochemistry, Oral squamous cell carcinoma, Betel quid, Tobacco smoking, Alcohol drinking, Smokeless tobacco