Abstract

Deregulation of the p53 gene is considered to be a prognostic marker in patients with tumours. In this review we are summarizing the results of meta-analyses dealing with the prognostic role of p53 status published in the literature. We found 7 studies examining 5 different tumours (osteosarcoma, ovarian carcinomas (OC), astrocytomas, urothelial bladder carcinomas and non-small lung cell carcinomas (NSCLC)). Significant results are reported in four of the studies (OC and NSLCC). However, most of the studies found significant heterogeneity, particularly those that reported significant results, whereas the majority used the results of univariate survival analysis for quantitative synthesis. Despite the significant information published the last decades regarding the role of p53 alterations in the clinical course of patients with malignant tumours, it could be argued that there is a huge amount of studies that cannot be combined in order to provide more valid and aggregated results.

Key words: Overexpression, tumours, p53 protein, immunohistochemistry.