Serum p53 autoantibodies as prognostic marker in patients with oesophageal carcinoma.
BACKGROUND
Oesophageal carcinoma is one of the more aggressive cancers and the patients usually seek medical attention only when the disease is already advanced. Therefore it is important to have a tool, which is simple and fast, to measure and to predict the prognosis for these patients. Mutations in the p53 gene are among the most common genetic abnormalities in oesophageal carcinoma. The present study is the first study, to our knowledge, in which the relationship between the presence of p53 autoantibodies in the serum and survival has been investigated in patients with oesophageal carcinoma.


METHODS
Serum from patients with oesophagal carcinoma was collected between 1996 and 1999 at the Department of Oncology, Uppsala University Hospital, Sweden. The serum samples were analysed for the presence of p53 autoantibodies using a sandwich ELISA.


RESULTS
In a multivariate analysis, the presence of p53 autoantibodies was associated with decreased survival (p=0.047). Patients with extensive disease had a poor prognosis and time to death was decreased in these patients (p=0.000022). The one-year survival was 0% for these patients if they had p53 autoantibodies compared to 36% for patients with no p53 autoantibodies and extensive disease.


CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that the presence of serum p53 autoantibodies is associated with decreased survival for patients with oesophageal carcinoma.
Bergqvist
A S
AS
Department of Oncology, Radiology and Clinical Immunology, Uppsala University Hospital, Sweden.
Bergqvist
M
M
Brattstrom
D
D
Hesselius
P
P
Larsson
A
A
Brodin
O
O
Wagenius
G
G
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000276:immunology; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D018196:Carcinoma, Adenosquamous / Q000276:immunology; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000276:immunology; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000276:immunology*
D001323:Autoantibodies; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53