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The results of colorectal cancer treatment by p53 status

Treatment-specific overview

  • Original Contributions
  • Published:
Diseases of the Colon & Rectum

Abstract

PURPOSE: Both negative and positive influences of mutant p53 on treatment outcome have been reported, and we present here a meta-analysis of published studies where outcome was reported for defined treatment groups. METHODS: We identified articles on the effect of p53 status by treatment modality, excluding those not stratified by method of treatment. A common hazard ratio was estimated from studies that reported a multivariate analysis. We also estimated the numbers of patients expressing the endpoint at the mean or median follow-up time and calculated a pooled odds ratio. RESULTS: Twenty-eight articles were evaluable (23 using immunohistochemistry to detect over-expression of p53 and 8 using DNA sequencing), for a total of 4,416 patients. For patients treated with surgery only, the immunohistochemistry studies showed a significant influence of p53 status on disease-free survival and a marginally significant influence on overall survival. In the studies using DNA sequencing, by contrast, there was a significant influence of p53 mutations on overall survival, but not disease-free survival. For patients treated with surgery and radio-therapy, the influence of p53 status on disease-free survival was either insignificant or marginally significant, depending on test used; there was no influence on overall survival. CONCLUSIONS: Although this pooled analysis of published studies where treatment was accounted for shows that there is a borderline significant hazard associated with p53 overexpression or mutationvs. p53 wild-type, it is unlikely that p53 can be applied in a routine clinical setting along-side factors such as T stage, nodal status, and residual tumor, whose prognostic value is much stronger.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. From the Department of Experimental Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas

    Sven Petersen M.D., Carsten Nieder M.D. & Cordula Petersen M.D.

  2. Department of Biomathematics, The University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas

    Howard D. Thames Ph.D.

  3. Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology, University of Dresden, Germany

    Sven Petersen M.D., Cordula Petersen M.D. & Michael Baumann M.D., Ph.D.

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  1. Sven Petersen M.D.
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Petersen, S., Thames, H.D., Nieder, C. et al. The results of colorectal cancer treatment by p53 status. Dis Colon Rectum 44, 322–333 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02234727

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