Abstract
Background. Recent diagnostic imaging tests contribute to improving the diagnosis of pancreatobiliary cancers. However, it is not practical to perform these tests for all patients as screening. Thus, less-invasive and simple screening tests are still required. A method to detect the IgG antibody induced in serum against the p53 protein accumulating due to p53 gene mutation, as a biomarker, was developed around 1990. Method. 35 patients with pancreatic cancer, 12 patients with biliary tract cancer, and 31 patients with benign pancreatobiliary diseases were entered into this study. Measurement of serum anti-p53 antibody was conducted in all patients. In addition, the rate of p53 protein overexpression was examined in those cases that could be examined pathologically. Result. Among all patients in the pancreatic cancer and biliary tract cancer groups, there was no patient with serum anti-p53 antibody positive value that exceeded the standard value. The rate of p53 protein overexpression was 48.0% in the patients with pancreatobiliary cancers and 0% in the benign pancreatobiliary diseases group. Conclusion. Serum anti-p53 antibody measurement does not contribute to the diagnosis of pancreatobiliary cancers. Instead, traditional p53 immunostaining still appears to be valuable in combination with standard procedures.