THE ROLE OF ANTI-P53-AUTOANTIBODIES IN PANCREATIC DISORDERS

Conclusion: Anti-p53-autoantibodies (a-p53-aabs) may suppress the deve lopment of distant metastases, but not lymph node metastases, This cou ld explain the significantly prolonged survival of patients with UICC stage III tumors who have a-p53-aabs compared to those without a-p53-a abs. Background: Mutation within the tumor suppressor gene p53 leads t o increased intracellular p53 protein levels and an increased antibody formation against this molecule. Altered p53 has been proposed to be associated with poor prognosis, and the present study investigated whe ther the detection of a humoral response to p53 gives evidence for a p rognostic or diagnostic parameter in pancreatic disorders. Methods: We screened 145 patients with pancreatic cancer and 95 patients with chr onic pancreatitis for the development of a-p53-aab via ELISA and Weste rn-blotting. p53 expression was examined by immuno-histochemistry. Res ults: We found that 41% of the tissues of patients suffering from panc reatic carcinoma overexpressed p53, and 15.9% of the patients sufferin g from pancreatic cancer developed a-p53-aab. In pancreatic cancer, we could exhibit a significant correlation between grading, p53-overexpr ession, survival, and antibody response against p53. A-p53-aabs were s ignificantly more frequent in patients with stage III tumors (tumors w ith lymph node metastases, but not distant metastases, p < 0.02).