title: p53-autoantibody may be more sensitive than CA-125 in monitoring microscopic and macroscopic residual disease after primary therapy for epithelial ovarian cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the use of p53-autoantibodies (p53-aab) for monitoring minimal disease after standard therapy of advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective analysis of p53-aab in preoperative and long-term follow-up serum samples from 10 patients selected for representing three relevant EOC subgroups: platinum-sensitive disease after macroscopic complete debulking (n = 4) and platinum-sensitive (n = 3) or platinum-resistant disease (n = 3), both after suboptimal debulking with residual tumor of <1 cm diameter. p53-aab levels were quantified by a sandwich ELISA in two independent experiments. CA-125 values of all samples and clinical information were retrieved from medical records.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with early relapse (median PFS 7 months, n = 8) had high p53-aab levels throughout follow-up while CA-125 values had dropped below the cut-off after primary surgery during or after chemotherapy in these cases. Patients with seroconversion to p53-aab negativity experienced prolonged PFS (n = 2; #1: 50 months, #2: no evidence of disease for 36 months until last follow-up). Continued p53-aab positivity was not related to the resection status or platinum sensitivity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  p53-autoantibodies may be a highly sensitive marker for minimal residual tumor mass after surgery and/or chemotherapy rather than standard CA-125, possibly due to the different nature of these markers. CA-125 released by cancer cells is related to tumor mass, whereas p53-aab levels can indicate the presence of few tumor cells due to amplification by the immune system. Seroconversion of p53-aab could be associated with long-term survival.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Jena University Hospital, Bachstrasse 18, 07743 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Norman
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Häfner
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nicolaus
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Frey
authors.forename: Herbert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Diebolder
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rengsberger
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dürst
authors.forename: Ingo B
authors.initials: IB
authors.lastname: Runnebaum
mesh_terms: D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D018394:CA-125 Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D000077216:Carcinoma, Ovarian Epithelial; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018365:Neoplasm, Residual; D009375:Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018394:CA-125 Antigen; C495901:TP53 protein, human; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53