Prognostic value of P63 expression in stage IV B -non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma: an original research study

Background
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is a heterogeneous group of lymphoid tissue malignant neoplasms. B-cell lymphomas can arise at any step of normal B-cell differentiation. Each subtype possesses a unique immunophenotypic pattern, clinical behavior, and prognosis. Tumor protein p63 (TP63), a member of the p53 family, has been implicated in cancer, including hematological malignancies. This work aims to evaluate the level of p63 expression in indolent and aggressive forms of B-NHL and explore its relation to disease characteristics and response to treatment.


Methods
This study was conducted on 40 non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients and 20 healthy controls. However, non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients were divided into two groups: 20 patients with indolent B-NHL, 20 patients with aggressive B-NHL. P63 was detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC) on bone marrow biopsy specimens. Using a Ready-to-use rabbit monoclonal antibody IgG against a synthetic peptide of human p63.


Results
We defined P63 as positive when ≥1% of lymphocytes showed staining. A ROC curve was adopted to discriminate responder patients from non-responders, P63 expression cut off ≤10 with a sensitivity of 86.2% and a specificity of 90.9%. The relationship between P63 and different prognostic and therapeutic parameters was examined. Time-to-event endpoints were estimated according to the Kaplan-Meier method. Moreover, multivariate analyses were conducted.


Conclusion
The data from our study suggest that p63 expression in bone marrow biopsies of B-NHL patients could serve as a prognostic marker with potential predictive power for treatment response, particularly in aggressive cases. Visual abstract as in Fig. 1.