P53 activates the transcription of genes involved in cell cycle arrest, DNA repair, and apoptosis. Deletion and point mutation at the TP53 locus occur in 25%-40% and 5%-40% of prostate cancer, respectively. Although the frequency of p53 mutations seems to be lower in prostate cancer than in other cancers, these alterations are not exclusively late events, as they have been shown in 25% to 30% of clinically localized prostate cancer. Several studies indicate that p53 overexpression may be associated with poor prognosis, especially when present in combination with Bcl2. Interestingly, SPOP mutations are also mutually exclusive with deletions and mutations in the TP53 tumor suppressor.

TP53 is a well known tumor suppressor gene that is mutated in wide variety of cancers. Loss of function mutations (missense, nonsense and frameshift mutations) of TP53 have been described in 10-20% of CLL cases and TP53 gene defects tend to be enriched among cases with unmutated IGH variable regions; in some series, TP53 mutations have been reported in approximately 15%-18% of IGHV unmutated CLL cases . TP53 mutations appears to be less common in other types of CLL (eg, less than 5% of IGHV3-21-expressing CLL carried a TP53 defect according to one study). Mutations of TP53 in CLL have been found together with del17p and mutations in other genes such as NOTCH1 and SF3B1. Mutations and deletions of TP53 appear to represent adverse prognostic markers in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

TP53 is a well known tumor suppressor gene that is mutated in wide variety of cancers. In terms of myeloid disorders, missense, nonsense, and frameshift mutations of TP53 tend to occur in the DNA binding domain and have been reported in approximately 4% of cases of AML where they tend to be associated with a poorer prognosis and an adverse cytogenetic risk profile. TP53 mutations also occur in approximately 10% of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and are often associated with poorer prognosis, adverse cytogenetic profile and deletion of 5q either in isolation or as part of a complex karyotype.

TP53 is a well known tumor suppressor gene that is mutated in wide variety of cancers. Among cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, overall TP53 mutations are reported to occur in less than 10% of cases. However, TP53 mutations have a very high prevalence (approximately 90%) among cases of ALL with low hypodiploid karyotype and in this setting are often associated with monosomy 17 and may be associated with germline TP53 mutations in a significant proportion of such cases in children.

This gene is a known cancer gene.