p53 expression and poor prognosis in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Ninety-one children with untreated acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) were analysed for expression of p53 using immunocytochemistry. p53 expression was found in 80% of the cases by Mab 421. Kaplan-Meier estimates show that patients with p53-positive leukemic cells had significantly shorter survival times under chemotherapy than those with p53-negative leukemic cells (p = 0.05, log-rank test). Statistical analysis revealed no correlation between p53 expression and patient's age, sex, immunotyping and initial peripheral blast cell count.