T. Lehtinen et al., EVALUATION OF PLASMA-LEVELS OF THYMIDINE KINASE AND MUTATED P53 IN 81PATIENTS WITH NEWLY-DIAGNOSED MALIGNANT-LYMPHOMA, Acta oncologica, 32(7-8), 1993, pp. 779-781
We analysed diagnostic phase plasma levels of thymidine kinase (TK) an
d mutated p53 in 81 patients with malignant lymphoma. Forty-three (53%
) patients had increased (>10 U/l) TK activity whereas 30 (37%) were p
ositive for the mutated p53 gene product. In general, patients with p5
3 mutation positive tumors tended to have higher TK activity than thos
e without. Furthermore, patients with high-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphom
a (NHL) showed almost a linear correlation (r(s) = 0.79) between plasm
a levels of mutated p53 and TK. We conclude that the monoclonal antibo
dy assisted detection of mutated p53 gene product may prove a useful a
djunct to the diagnostic procedures of malignant lymphomas.