This article describes p53 as a prognostic and predictive factor, together with some information on how best to determine the p53 status. By December 1998, 13,000 articles on p53 were identified on Pub Med, the National Library of Medicine. Within one week a further 62 articles were recorded making it difficult to give the complete p53 story. This review article will focus on discussing p53 in relation to its predictive potential. So far, no firm conclusions can be made based on the articles studied. This may be, in part, because many studies have used less than optimal techniques for determination of the p53 status, together with the fact that the studies lacked power to detect a potential difference in outcome from specific therapy in relation to p53 status.

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