p53 protein expression in Reed-Sternberg cells of Hodgkin's disease.

Hodgkin's disease (HD) is perceived to be a malignant disease of the lymphoid system. One of the main obstacles into the investigation of the cell biology of Hodgkin's disease is the relative paucity of Reed-Sternberg cells (or variants), the presumed neoplastic component of this condition, which often make up less than 1o of the total cell number. The p53 gene, located on the short arm of chromosome 17, has been described as a tumour suppressor gene producing a 53kD nuclear DNA-binding phosphoprotein (1). Several lines of evidence support the notion that the loss of or alteration in p53 may contribute to the deregulated growth characteristic of cancer cells (2). Overexpression of p53 has been shown in numerous human malignant tumours using monoclonal antibodies