p53 immunodetection of liquid-based processed urinary samples helps to identify bladder tumours with a higher risk of...

p53 could help identify bladder tumour cases with a risk of progression from superficial to invasive disease. Semiautomatic, liquid-based cytology (LBC) techniques offer an opportunity to standardise molecular techniques. The aim of our study was to investigate whether LBC could improve p53 immunolabelling, and to assess whether urinary p53 could have a prognostic value. Immunoreactivity for p53 was studied in 198 urine samples after treatment with the Cytyc Thinprep processor. After antigen retrieval, cells were labelled with a monoclonal antibody that recognises both wild-type and mutant form of the p53 protein (Clone DO-7, Dako), 1/1000. Positivity for p53 was assessed in 17.2% of the cases. High-grade (G3) tumours were positive in 74.1% of the cases. Comparatively, low-grade (G1-2) urothelial carcinomas were positive in 23.5% of the cases. During a median follow-up period of 26 months, recurrence was observed in 52.9% of the cases with p53 overexpression, and in only 10.9% of negative cases (P < 0.001). The progression rate was 35.3% of p53-positive cases vs 5.5% of p53-negative cases (P < 0.001). Progression-free survival was significantly shorter in patients with p53 accumulation (P = 0.007). In a multivariate analysis stratified on grade and stage, p53 was an independent predictor of overall survival (P = 0.042). The results show that using Thinprep LBC, p53 immunolabelling of voided urothelial cells allows most high-grade tumours to be detected and may help identify cases with a higher risk of recurrence and progression.