The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Objective: Primary liver cell carcinoma (PLCC) is a common disease in Nigeria. Among the causes are hepatitis B and C viruses, alcohol and aflatoxin B1. It has a poor prognosis and most patients present late to the hospital, at a stage when much cannot be done in terms of treatment. There is need to search for markers that will aid early detection of this condition. P53 is a tumor suppressor gene, and the pathogenesis of PLCC has been linked to the mutation of this gene with humoral response and production of antibody to it. The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence, pattern and significance of serum anti-p53 in patients with PLCC and apparently healthy controls at the University College Hospital, Ibadan.

Methods: Forty one patients with PLCC and 45 apparently healthy controls were matched for age and sex. Serum anti-p53 was determined using p53-autoantibody ELISA kit (IBL-Hamburg). Other investigations done were abdominal ultrasound scan (USS), liver function tests, prothrombin time, full blood count, serum electrolytes and blood urea. Seven patients had liver biopsy done which confirmed the diagnosis of PLCC.

Results: Anti-p53 was detectable in the serum of Nigerian patients with PLCC (12.2%) and apparently normal people (8.9%). The frequency of anti-p53 detection in PLCC compared with normal persons is not however statistically significant. It is concluded that serum anti-p53 may not be useful as a discriminatory test between PLCC and normal individuals. However it has some clinical significance in terms of duration of illness and stage of the disease.