The Presence of Anti-p53 Antibodies in Sera Prior to Thoracic Surgery in Non Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients: Its Implications on Tumor Volume, Nodal Involvement, and Survival

Background: During recent years, a correlation between the presence of antibodies in sera against p53 and survival has been reported. The aim of the present study was to analyze anti-p53 antibodies in sera from patients with non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) prior to thoracic surgery and their correlation to survival, nodal involvement, and tumor volume.

Patients And Methods: Serum samples from 58 patients with NSCLC admitted to the Department of Pulmonary Medicine in Uppsala were collected between 1993 and 1995 and analyzed for the expression of anti-p53 antibodies.

Results: Antibodies against p53 were detected in 12 patients (21%). No association was found between increased levels of anti-p53 antibodies and tumor volume (P =.84). There was a numerical trend towards higher levels of anti-p53 antibodies in patients without nodal disease, when compared with patients with nodal involvement, although not statistically significant (P =.136). However, when patients with metastatic disease were included, statistically significantly lower levels of anti-p53 antibodies were demonstrated, in comparison to patients without any sign of nodal engagement or metastatic disease (P =.038). Anti-p53 antibodies and survival showed no correlation between increasing index levels of anti-p53 antibodies and survival (P =.18). Neither was a correlation found between using the cutoff (>1.1) described by the manufacturer and survival.

Conclusion: The presence of anti-p53 antibodies was correlated neither to survival nor to tumor volume in the present study. However, patients with either nodal or metastatic disease had lower levels of anti-p53 antibodies in comparison to patients without signs of either nodal or metastatic disease. These issues are discussed.