Background: To explore the relationship between serum p53 antibodies and clinicopathological characteristics in patients with lung cancer and to investigate sequential changing regularity of serump53 antibodies after surgical resection.
Methods: The serum p53 antibody level was detected in 120 patients with lung cancer , and in 30 patients with benign pulmonary lesion and 120 healthy adults as control by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay ( ELISA) . The blood samples were collected on the day before operation and on the 7th , 30th and 90th days postoperatively.
Results: The level and positive rate of serum p53 antibodies in patients with lung cancer were significantly higher than those in patients with benign pulmonary disease and normal individuals ( P < 0. 05) , but there was no significant difference between patients with benign pulmonary disease and normal individuals ( P > 0. 05) . The level and positive rate of pre-operative serum p53 antibodies in patients with lung cancer were closely related to cell differentiation and stage of lung cancer ( P < 0. 01 or P < 0. 05) . The level of serum p53 antibodies decreased gradually in patients with lung cancer underwent radical removal of the cancer , and completely returned to the normal level around the 30th day after operation , but the level of serum p53 antibodies in patients with lung cancer underwent palliative operation didn't reduce to the normal level on the 30th day after operation. It would increase again when tumor metastasis or recurrence developed.
Conclusions: Detection of serum p53 antibodies is helpful to defferentiate benign from malignant pulmonary diseases. Monitoring of sequential change of pre- and post-operative serum p53 antibodies in patients with lung cancer is helpful to evaluate response to treatment , to judge prognosis and to guide the comprehensive treatment of patients with lung cancer after operation.