Prognostic value of serum p53 antibodies in patients with resected non-small cell lung cancer

Background: Serum antibodies against p53 protein (p53-Abs) have been detected in some cancer patients. The significance and use of p53-Abs as a marker of the clinical behavior of lung cancer is currently under investigation. Purpose: In this study, we measured the serum p53-Abs in 84 patients with operable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)and evaluated potential association between the presence of these antibodies and prognosis. Methods: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect p53-Abs in serum. Survival and disease-free survival curves related to initial p53-Abs status were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: At the time of diagnosis 19 (22.6%) of 84 analyzed patients had positive result from the serum p53 antibodies (p53-Abs) test. No association was found between p53-Abs, histological types of tumors and clinical stage of disease. We found that patients with a positive result from the p53-Abs test had lower probability of overall and disease-free survival. The unfavorable effect was significant both in the univariate analysis, as well as in the multivariate analysis (after adjustment for sex, histopathological type of tumor, TNM stage). Conclusion: The results of the present study indicate that serum p53 antibodies may be an independent prognostic factor in NSCLC, especially in the squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC) patients and may be useful in identifying resected lung cancer patients at high risk for treatment failure. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.