p53 status and response to radiotherapy in rectal cancer: a prospective multilevel analysis
2005

p53 Status and Response to Radiotherapy in Rectal Cancer

Sample size: 70 publication 10 minutes Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Lopez-Crapez E, Bibeau F, Thézenas S, Ychou M, Simony-Lafontaine J, Thirion A, Azria D, Grenier J, Senesse P

Primary Institution: Val d'Aurelle Cancer Institute, Montpellier, France

Hypothesis

The study aims to evaluate the predictive role of p53 status in identifying the response to preoperative radiotherapy in rectal adenocarcinoma.

Conclusion

The study found no correlation between p53 alterations and response to radiotherapy in rectal carcinoma.

Supporting Evidence

  • 50% of patients had p53 gene mutations.
  • 44.4% of patients had allelic loss.
  • 55.7% of patients showed nuclear p53 overexpression.
  • 16.7% of patients had detectable p53 antibodies.
  • 41.4% of patients were downstaged by pathologic analysis.
  • 29.2% of patients were classified as tumour regression grade 1.
  • No correlation was found between p53 alterations and response to radiotherapy.

Takeaway

This study looked at how a gene called p53 affects how well rectal cancer patients respond to radiation treatment, and it found that p53 changes don't help predict the treatment's success.

Methodology

The study involved a prospective analysis of 70 rectal cancer patients, assessing p53 status through various methods and evaluating treatment response post-surgery.

Potential Biases

Potential biases may arise from the subjective nature of histopathological evaluations.

Limitations

The study had a small sample size and some patients lacked measurements for all variables, reducing the power of the analysis.

Participant Demographics

The study included 70 patients, with 43 men and 27 women, median age of 65 years.

Statistical Information

P-Value

P<0.0001 for gene mutations correlating with nuclear protein overexpression; P=0.013 for loss of heterozygosity.

Confidence Interval

95% confidence interval (CI), 0.11–0.95

Statistical Significance

p<0.05

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1038/sj.bjc.6602622

Want to read the original?

Access the complete publication on the publisher's website

View Original Publication