Correlations of bcl-2 expression with clinicopathological features in breast cancer.
10.3349/ymj.1997.38.4.206
- Author:
Hy De LEE
1
;
Ja Yun KOO
;
Woo Hee JUNG
Author Information
1. Department of General Surgery, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
- Publication Type:Original Article ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
- Keywords:
Breast cancer;
bcl-2 protooncogene
- MeSH:
Breast Neoplasms/pathology*;
Breast Neoplasms/metabolism*;
Carcinoma in Situ/pathology*;
Carcinoma in Situ/metabolism*;
Carcinoma, Infiltrating Duct/pathology*;
Carcinoma, Infiltrating Duct/metabolism*;
Female;
Human;
Middle Age;
Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2/metabolism*;
Receptors, Estrogen/metabolism;
Receptors, Progesterone/metabolism
- From:Yonsei Medical Journal
1997;38(4):206-211
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
To evaluate the prognostic significance of bcl-2, we investigated the correlation of bcl-2 expression with the established indicators of prognosis and tumor behavior in breast cancer. This study included a patient group of 91 histologically diagnosed female breast carcinomas. To determine the bcl-2 immunoreactivity, we used a monoclonal antibody directed against the bcl-2 protein by immunohistochemistry from paraffin-embedded tissue in a series of 91 women with breast cancer. Interpretable DNA histograms were obtained from 84 patients. The median age at diagnosis was 45.5 years and the median follow-up time was 30.5 months. Forty-eight (52.7%) cancers showed the bcl-2 immunoreactivity in the cytoplasm. The nonneoplastic portion of ductal epithelial cells and normal lymphocytes were usually stained with bcl-2 antibody. Estrogen receptors (ER)(p < 0.001) and progesterone receptors (PR) (p < 0.001) showed strong positive correlation with bcl-2 immunoreactivity. The histologic grade (p < 0.05) and nuclear grade (p < 0.01) also showed positive relationships with bcl-2 positivity but tumor size (p > 0.05) and DNA ploidy (p > 0.05) were not related with it. The bcl-2 positive patients showed longer survival (p < 0.05) compared to bcl-2 negative tumors in univariate analysis (Kaplan-Meier life table analysis). Using multivariate analysis with Cox regression, bcl-2 (p > 0.05), nuclear grade (p > 0.05), ER status (p > 0.1) and PR status(p > 0.1) were not reliable indicators for overall survival except histologic grade (p < 0.05). Our results suggest that bcl-2 expression may be related to hormonal regulation and tumor differentiation in breast carcinoma. Larger patient study groups with a longer follow-up period will be helpful to clarify the prognostic significance of bcl-2.
