title: Expression of high p53 levels in colorectal cancer: a favourable prognostic factor.
abstract: The expression of p53 protein was examined in a series of 111 colorectal cancer adenocarcinomas with a long follow-up. A quantitative luminometric immunoassay (LIA) was used for the measurement of wild-type and mutant p53 protein in extracts from colorectal tumour cytosols, p53 being detected in 42% of the samples (range 0.0-52 ng (mg-1)). Using an arbitrary cut-off value of 2.7 ng mg(-1), 25% of the tumours were classified as manifesting high p53 levels. There was no association of p53 expression with patient age, sex, serum preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels, tumour site and size, nodal status or TNM stage. Significant and independent correlation was found to exist between high p53 levels and prolonged disease-free survival (P = 0.05) at a median follow-up of 60 months. This survival advantage was most apparent among stage III cancer patients. The results from this study would suggest that expression of high p53 levels appear to be useful in selecting a group of colorectal cancer patients with a better prognosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Hospital Virgen de la Luz, Cuenca, Spain.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Adrover
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Maestro
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Sanz-Casla
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: del Barco
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cerdán
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Balibrea
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000378:metabolism; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53