˜Np63Æ in the neoplastic sequence of Barrett's oesophagus: correlation with morphology and p53 protein

Background—While loss of p53 function is a key oncogenic step in human tumorigenesis, mutations of p53 are generally viewed as late events in the metaplasiadysplasia-adenocarcinoma sequence of Barrett’s oesophagus. Recent reports of a series of genes (p63, p73, and others) exhibiting close homology to p53 raise the possibility that abnormalities of these p53 family members may exert their influence earlier in the sequence.