Dependence of chemotherapy response on p53 mutation status in a panel of human cancer lines maintained in nude mice

In contrast to findings in vitro, the clinical response to anticancer chemotherapy is not simply associated with the p53 mutation status. To analyze the relationship between the actual response of solid tumors with p53 mutation and other biological characteristics, we used a human cancer-nude mouse panel of 21 lines derived from stomach, colorectal, breast, lung, and liver cancers for experimental chemotherapy. We examined the tumor growth rates of the cancer lines and the effects of nine drugs in clinical use, namely, mitomycin C (MMC), cisplatin (CDDP), nimustine hydrochloride (ACNU), irinotecan (CPT-11), cyclophosphamide (CPA), 1-(2-tetrahydrofuryl)-5-fluorouracil (FT-207), a 4:1 mixture of uracil and FT-207 (UFT), 5′-deoxy-5-fluorouridine (5′-DFUR), and adriamycin (ADM), on these tumors. The chemotherapy response was expressed as the tumor growth inhibition rate (IR). The genomic DNA sequences of the p53 gene in exons 5 through 8 were analyzed in these cancer tissues, and p53 mutations were detected in 10 of the 21 cancer lines (48%). Resistance to MMC was observed in p53 mutant tumors with smaller IRs than those for wild-type tumors (57.7% vs. 79.9%, P<0.03). No significant differences were noted with the other eight drugs. To explore the role of the p53 function in the chemotherapy response, we calculated the correlation coefficients between chemosensitivity and tumor growth rate separately in p53 mutant and wild-type groups. In the p53 wild-type group, we found a positive correlation for the following drugs: ADM (P<0.02), ACNU (P<0.007), CPA (P<0.011), UFT (P<0.012), and FT-207 (P<0.02). In the p53 mutant group, only CPA (P<0.003) showed a positive correlation. The kinetics suggests that in the wild-type tumors, DNA damage caused by anti-cancer drugs occurs proportionally to the rate of DNA synthesis, and p53-mediated apoptosis is subsequently induced. The low frequency of positive correlation in the p53 mutant tumors is compatible with the loss of function or malfunction of mutant p53. The present results provide kinetic evidence that p53 function affects the response to anticancer drugs. Preserved p53 function tended to confer good chemosensitivity on rapidly growing tumors. However, the p53 mutation status did not seem to be suitable for use as an exclusive indicator to predict the chemotherapy response of human cancer xenografts.