Evaluation of Plasma Levels of Thymidine Kinase and Mutated P53 in 81 Patients with Newly Diagnosed Malignant Lymphoma
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3109/02841869309096135Abstract
We analysed diagnostic phase plasma levels of thymidine kinase (TK) and mutated p53 in 81 patients with malignant lymphoma. Forty-three (53%) patients had increased (> 10 U/1) TK activity whereas 30 (37%) were positive for the mutated p53 gene product. In general, patients with p53 mutation positive tumors tended to have higher TK activity than those without. Furthermore, patients with high-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) showed almost a linear correlation (rs = 0.79) between plasma levels of mutated p53 and TK. We conclude that the monoclonal antibody assisted detection of mutated p53 gene product may prove a useful adjunct to the diagnostic procedures of malignant lymphomas.