Background: The MDM2 oncoprotein promotes p53 degradation via ubiquitin, establishing negative feedback control of p53 and consequently affecting cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. The authors evaluated the association between MDM2 expression and local failure, distant metastasis (DM), cause-specific mortality, and overall mortality in men treated in Radiation Therapy Oncology Group 8610 with radiotherapy, with or without androgen deprivation.
Methods: Of the 456 eligible and analyzable patients (parent cohort), adequate archival diagnostic tissue specimens from 108 patients were available for MDM2 analysis (MDM2 cohort). Cox proportional hazards multivariate analysis (MVA) was used to determine the relation of MDM2 to the endpoints. MDM2 overexpression was manually classified as > 5% nuclear staining. An image analysis system was also used to quantify the proportion of tumor nuclei with MDM2 staining (ACIS index) and staining intensity.
Results: Overexpression of MDM2 by manual counts was seen in 44% (n = 47) of the patients. In the manual count analysis, there was no significant relation between MDM2 overexpression and outcome. The ACIS index, using a cutoff point defined by the median value, < or = 3% versus > 3%, was related to 5-year DM rates in univariate analyses (32.6% vs. 45.8%; P = 0.057) and MVA (P = 0.06). The intensity of MDM2 staining was not significant.
Conclusions: MDM2 expression quantified by image analysis was weakly associated with DM. The cohort examined was relatively small and with larger patient numbers, MDM2 overexpression may emerge as a more significant covariate.