Circulating P53 Antibodies in Patients With Colorectal Cancer: Relation to Clinicopathological Features and Tumor Markers

Abstract

Background: P53 antibodies (p53 Abs) have been detected in the serum of a proportion of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. The development of these antibodies is associated with the presence of mutant oncoprotein p53. However, it is not yet known at which stage during CRC progression p53Abs appear in serum. Aim of the Work: To identify the prevalence of p53 Abs in CRC and their association with clinicopathological features of the tumor. Patients and Methods: The study included 30 CRC patients (16 males and 14 females) their age ranged between 20-73 years. All patients were subjected to full clinical examination and laboratory studies including tumor markers (CEA, CA 19.9). Colonoscopy was done for pathological grading and staging of the tumor according to TNM and Dukes' staging system. P53 antibodies in patients' sera were detected using ELISA technique. Results: We found that 16.6 % of our CRC patients had positive anti-p53 Abs. No association was observed between the presence of these Abs and clinicopathological features including age, tumor location, tumor size, T-stage, Dukes' staging or even distant metastasis. A statistically significant association was found between the presence of p53 Abs and lymph node status (p < 0.001) and with histological grading (p=0.031). Conclusion: The presence of p53 Abs in sera of patients with CRC indicates a more advanced tumor histopathological stage and could be utilized as a complementary prognostic tool to colonoscopy in high risk patients.