P53 and Ki67 Expression by Cervical Cancers in Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Background: Cervical cancer is the second most common cause of cancer deaths in females in Nigeria. The aim of this study is to determine the percentage of cervical cancers in Ile-Ife that express the p53 and Ki-67 protein and to compare the expression of the proteins with the different histological types of the tumour.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed our data of histological results over the last twenty years and retrieved all the diagnosed cases of cervical cancers over this period. The haematoxylin and eosin slides were reviewed to confirm the diagnosis and also to confirm the histological variants. Immunohistochemistry for p53 and Ki-67 was done on selected blocks.

Results: A total of 149 cervical cancer cases were evaluated by immunohistochemistry. The age range at presentation of cervical cancer was 20-95 years (mean 56.6 years). The large cell non-keratinizing variant was the most common histological variant with a percentage of 57.7% followed by the keratinizing variant with a percentage of 29.5%. The basaloid variant was the least common with a percentage of 0.7%. Of all the 149 cases, 59.7% were positive for Ki67 while 40.3% were negative. Sixty-one percent of the cases were positive for p53 while 38.3% were negative. There was no significant association between the histological variants of cervical cancer and age distribution. The association between p53 and Ki-67 and the different histological variants was not found to be statistically significant, although most cases that were positive for both proteins were found to be the large cell non-keratinizing variant.

Conclusion: The expression patterns of p53 and Ki-67 by cervical cancer cases evaluated in Ile-Ife is similar to those obtained in other African countries. The relationship between histological variants and age groups as well as that between p53 and Ki-67 with the different histological variants of cervical cancer were found to be statistically insignificant. More studies on expression of these proteins are needed to confirm their importance in cervical carcinogenesis and prognosis.