Anti-p53 and anti-heat shock proteins antibodies in patients with malignant or pre-malignant lesions of the oral cavity.
BACKGROUND
Evaluation of circulating anti-p53 antibodies is an easy-to-perform, widely employed, procedure to assess the p53 status in cancer patients.


METHODS
Levels of circulating anti-p53 antibodies in patients affected either by oral SCC or by pre- malignant oral lesions were assayed using a commercial ELISA kit. Autoantibody titers to Hsp60 and Hsp72 were determined by conventional ELISA.


RESULTS
Anti-p53 antibodies were detected in 3 out of 16 SCC-bearing patients (18.7%) and in 9 out of 13 patients suffering from pre-malignant oral lesions (69.2%). High titers of anti-Hsp60 autoantibodies were detected in 3 out of 29 patients (10.3%), while in all patients anti-Hsp72 titers were in the normal range.


CONCLUSIONS
The presence of anti-p53 antibodies in both SCC-bearing patients and in patients with pre-malignant lesions support the notion that p53 gene mutation is an early event in oral tumorigenesis and suggest that this assay could be useful for diagnostic screening of pre-neoplastic lesions at high risk of recurrence and/or transition towards overt malignancy.
Castelli
M
M
Laboratory of Biochemistry, Istituto Regina Elena per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori, Centro Ricerca Sperimentale, Via Delle Messi D' Oro 156, 00158 Rome, Italy.
Cianfriglia
F
F
Manieri
A
A
Palma
L
L
Pezzuto
R W
RW
Falasca
G
G
Delpino
A
A
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000912:Antibodies, Neoplasm / Q000097:blood*; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000276:immunology*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000145:classification / Q000276:immunology*; D018834:Chaperonin 60 / Q000276:immunology*; D018450:Disease Progression; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D000939:Epitopes / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D016158:Genes, p53; D050884:HSP72 Heat-Shock Proteins; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D009154:Mutation; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000276:immunology*
D000912:Antibodies, Neoplasm; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D018834:Chaperonin 60; D000939:Epitopes; D050884:HSP72 Heat-Shock Proteins; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53