p53 mutation does not affect prognosis in ovarian epithelial malignancies

Mutations of the p53 tumour suppressor gene hare been found in most human c ancers, including ovarian epithelial malignancies. This study investigated whether the presence or absence of p53 mutation was associated,vith outcome following platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with ovarian cancer. DNA samples from tumour tissue and blood were obtained front 73 patients with primary tumours, 50 of whom received platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy. Single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis and direct DNA sequencing of exons 5-8 detected mutations in 44% (32 of 73) of tumours, These were mo re common in late-stage (III or IV) than in early-stage disease (I or II) ( p=0.03). There was no association with histological type, volume of residua l disease following surgery, or initial CA125 levels, No significant associ ation was found between p53 status and overall survival or disease-free sur vival following chemotherapy. Like,vise, there was no correlation between p 53 mutation and response to chemotherapy as defined by normalization of CA1 25 levels. Tumours with p53 missense mutations recurred within significantl y shorter time than those with normal p53 (p=0.04). In addition, there was a tendency for tumours with missense mutations to have a shorter disease-fr ee survival than those with non-missense mutations, although this did not r each statistical significance (p=0.07). Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Son s, Ltd.