TP53 and cancer: Mutant p53 proteins show a longer half-life than wild-type p53, resulting in accumulation in cancer cells; p53 overexpression can in turn induce circulating p53 antibodies (p53Abs) in patients bearing various types of cancer, including lung cancer, presumably because the altered conformation of p53 produced by mutations may trigger an autoimmune response once the protein has been released from tumour cells [3].