Prospective studies are urgently needed to confirm the independent prognostic value of decreased p27Kip1 protein expression together with overexpression of the p53 tumour suppressor protein in patients with localized prostate cancer.
This study was undertaken to identify and to assess potential alterations of p27KIP1 gene expression in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and patients with prostate cancer.
The majority of primary prostate cancer specimens (68%) were totally negative for p27(Kip1) immunoreactivity, whereas the rest exhibited a significantly decreased p27(Kip1) expression, compared with the normal prostate (P < 0.01).