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. 1997 Dec;123(9):502–508. doi: 10.1007/BF01192205

Prognostic value of immunohistochemistry for p53 in primary soft-tissue sarcomas: a multivariate analysis of five antibodies

Peter Würl 1, Helge Taubert 2,✉, Axel Meye 2, Dieter Berger 2, Christine Lautenschläger 3, Hans-Jürgen Holzhausen 2, Hannelore Schmidt 2, Holger Kalthoff 4, Friedrich-Wilhelm Rath 3, Henning Dralle 1
PMCID: PMC12201079  PMID: 9341900

Abstract

Most changes of tumor suppressor p53 and its pathway involve a protein with prolonged half-life that permits immunohistochemical detection. The goal of this study was to compare the prognostic relevance of five different p53 antibodies in primary soft-tissue sarcomas (STS) with known p53 mutation status, using a multivariate Cox regression model (adjusted to tumor grading, staging, localization, tumor type, and therapy). A group of 198 primary STS of six types were investigated for p53 overexpression, using p53 antibodies DO-1, DO-7, Pab1801, Pab240, and CM-1. A positive marker frequency between 36.2% and 62.6% was detected. Out of 65 patients whose primary tumor reacted positively to all five antibodies, 52 (80%) died within the study period. Only the N-terminal-binding monoclonal antibodies DO-1, DO-7 and Pab1801 showed a multivariate correlation with survival (P=0.0014, 0.0048 and 0.02). CM-1 and Pab240 had a univariate, but not a multivariate correlation, with a confounding effect of grading. The prognostic relevance for the five p53 antibodies was: DO-1>Pab1801>DO-7>CM-1>Pab240. This is the first study that investigates multivariately the prognostic relevance of p53 immunostaining in STS. If monoclonal antibodies with an epitope in the N-terminal region of the p53 protein (DO-1, Pab1801, DO-7) are applied, p53 immunohistochemistry provides an independent prognostic marker in STS.

Key words: Immunohistochemistry, p53, Soft-tissue sarcoma, Prognosis

Abbreviations

STS

soft-tissue sarcoma

FS

fibrosarcoma

LS

liposarcoma

MFH

malignant fibrous histiosarcoma

LMS

leiomyosarcoma

MNT

malignant neural tumor

RMS

rhabdomyosarcoma

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