Importance of Serum p53 Antibodies during Follow-Up after Treatment of Invasive Bladder Tumors

Introduction: To investigate the prognostic importance of the changes in serum p53 antibody titrations during follow-up of patients who had anti-p53 antibody-positive invasive bladder tumors with transitional epithelial cells. Materials and Methods: The study group consisted of 23 clinically T3≤, N0, M0 patients with positive serum anti-p53 antibodies before treatment. 23 cases with negative serum anti-p53 antibodies who were comparable in age, comorbidity and stage with the study group were selected as a control group. The cases whose serum anti-p53 titrations decreased to normal levels after treatment were compared for metastases, death rates and survival with cases who remained serum anti-p53-positive and those who were serum p53 antibody-negative before treatment. Serum anti-p53 antibody titration was determined by ELISA. Results: While serum anti-p53 antibody titrations became negative in 8 (35%) of the 23 seropositive patients, it did not change in 15 patients (65%). There was a correlation between the maintenance of seropositivity, local progression/metastasis and death (p < 0.05). Survival was found to be better in cases who were seronegative after treatment compared with cases who remained positive and also those who were seronegative before treatment (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The normalization of serum anti-p53 antibody positivity after treatment of invasive bladder tumors seems to be a good and reliable prognostic indicator.