Anti-p53 antibodies and p53 protein expression in cholangiocarcinoma.

Background/aims: Mutations of p53 are found in the majority of human malignancies. The accumulated mutant p53 can be detected in tumor sections by immunohistochemical methods. The abnormal accumulation of the defective p53 protein can induce the host to develop anti-p53 antibodies in sera of cancer patients. This study aimed to investigate the presence of anti-p53 antibodies in sera of patients with cholangiocarcinoma and to evaluate the correlation between such antibodies and p53 protein accumulation.

Methodology: The presence of serum anti-p53 antibodies in 49 patients with cholangiocarcinoma was determined by ELISA kit (Pharma Cell, France). Immunohistochemical detection of p53 protein expression was examined in available tissue samples of 36 patients.

Results: Serum anti-p53 antibodies were detected in 6 of 49 patients with cholangiocarcinoma (12.2%). Immunostaining of p53 was found in 15 of 36 patients (41.6%) and 4 of these 15 patients (26.7%) were positive for anti-p53 antibodies. The association between anti-p53 antibodies and p53 protein expression was statistically significant (P=0.023). No correlation was found between the presence of anti-p53 antibodies and sex, age, histological grade, site and stage of tumor (P>0.05).

Conclusions: The majority of serum anti-p53 antibodies detected in cholangiocarcinoma were specifically associated with the accumulation of p53 protein in tumor tissues. However, antibody generation against the p53 protein is a relatively uncommon event in cholangiocarcinoma.