[Analysis of prognostic value of TP53 gene mutations in non-small cell lung cancer]

The aim of this study was to assess the frequency and prognostic value of TP53 gene somatic mutations in non-small cell lung cancer. The study group included 240 NSCLC patients who underwent pulmonary resection at the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Medical University of Gdańsk. Tumour samples were evaluated for the presence of TP53 gene mutations in exons 5-8. In 157 cases SSCP method was used as a screening followed by sequencing of positive samples. In the remaining 83 patients mutations were analysed by direct sequencing. A total of 76 mutations (32%) were found, of those a missense type was dominant (67%), followed by silent and null type mutations (14% and 10%, respectively). There was no correlation between mutations and clinical characteristics, including age, sex, histological subtype, differentiation, tumour size, lymph node metastases, pTNM stage and smoking status. A multivariate Cox analysis demonstrated that tumour differentiation and pTNM stage were independent prognostic factors, whereas TP53 gene mutations were not. The results of this study indicate that TP53 gene mutations in NSCLC patients are not correlated with clinical characteristics and have no impact on survival.