ANTIBODIES AGAINST P53 PROTEIN IN SERUM OF PATIENTS WITH BENIGN OR MALIGNANT PANCREATIC AND BILIARY DISEASES

Specific markers for pancreatic or biliary cancer have been developed in the past few years. Ca 19-9 has a good sensitivity but it is also i ncreased in benign cholestasis. Mutations in the p53 gene are commonly reported in pancreatic cancer and can be detected by a serological an alysis. The aim of this work was to find out the sensitivity and speci ficity of this new assay in diagnosing cancer of the pancreas or of th e bile ducts. The presence of antibodies against p53 was determined by an enzyme Linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 29 patients with panc reatic cancer, 33 with biliary tract cancer, and 33 with benign biliar y or pancreatic diseases as controls. p53 Antibodies were detected in eight of 29 patients with pancreatic cancer (28%), in five of 33 patie nts with biliary tract (15%), and in one patient (3%) with stones of t he common bile duct. The sensitivity and the specificity for the diagn osis of malignant biliary or pancreatic diseases were 21% and 96% resp ectively. It is concluded that the presence of p53 antibodies in the s erum of patients with pancreatic and biliary diseases is specific for malignancy and independent from the presence of cholestatic disease.