Quantitative p53 immunostaining aids in the detection of prevalent dysplasia

AimsThe lack of accepted scoring criteria has precluded the use of p53 in routine practice. We evaluate the utility of automated quantitative p53 analysis in risk stratifying Barrett’s oesophagus (BE) patients using non-dysplastic BE (NDBE) biopsies in a multicentric cohort of BE progressor (P) and non-progressor (NP) patients.MethodsNDBE biopsies prior to the diagnosis of advanced neoplasia from 75 BE-P, and index and last surveillance biopsies from 148 BE-NP were stained for p53, and scored digitally as 1+, 2+ and 3+. A secondary cohort of 30 BE-P was evaluated.ResultsCompared with BE-NP, BE-P was predominantly men (p=0.001), ≥55 years of age (p=0.008), with longer BE segments (71% vs 33%; p