Mutation and expression of p16 gene in esophagus squamous cell carcinoma

Objective To detect the mutation and mRNA expression of p16 gene in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma(ESCC) and evaluate the clinicopathologic significance.Methods Thirty-one samples from the patients with ESCC were enrolled.PCR-SSCP,DNA sequencing and RT-PCR were utilized to detect the mutation and mRNA expression of p16 gene.Results Nine cases showed p16 gene abnormality including seven point mutations and two deletions.p16 mRNA expression of tumor tissues was lower than that of normal tissues(P0.05).p16 mRNA expression in p16 gene abnormal group was lower than that in p16 gene normal group(P0.05).However,no significant correlation of mRNA expression with sex,age,invasion depth,lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis(P0.05) was found.Conclusions Abnormal expression of p16 mRNA might contribute to the tumorigenesis of ESCC,but detection of p16 mRNA expression has no prognostic value in ESCC.