OBJECTIVETo study the expression and significance of apoptosis-related protein p53, Bcl-2, and Bax during the development of oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).

METHODSThe expression was observed in 10 normal oral epithelia, 48 dysplasia epithelia and 42 SCC by immunohistochemical evaluation.

RESULTSIn normal mucosa, the positive rate of p53, Bcl-2 and Bax were 0%, 20% and 60%. In dysplasia epithelia, the positive rate of p53 is increased (P < 0.05), the positive rate of Bcl-2 and Bax remained no significant change (P > 0.05), but the positive intensity in severe dysplasia was higher than in mild group. In SCC, the positive rate of Bcl-2 increased significantly (compared with dysplasia, P < 0.05), while the expression of Bax was decreased with the increase of SCC histological grade. Further analysis showed the correlation was evident in p53 and Bax in dysplasia, and in p53 and Bcl-2 in SCC.

CONCLUSIONSIn dysplasia, p53 gene mutation results in accumulation of dysplasia cells. In SCC, the cooperation of p53, Bcl-2 and Bax results in the progression of SCC. Apoptosis genes could work either independently or cooperatively.

Apoptosis ; genetics ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; chemistry ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Mouth Mucosa ; chemistry ; pathology ; Mouth Neoplasms ; chemistry ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins ; analysis ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; analysis ; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 ; analysis ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein

Objective To explore the application value of multiphase dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (MDCE-MRI) in the early chemoradiation efficacy in cervical cancer.Methods Twenty-one patients with cervical cancer received chemoradiation.Routine MR scan and MDCE-MRI scan were examined at different stages, including pre-treatment, 15 days,1 month and 2 months after treatment.According to volume change of the tumor after treatment, the cases were mainly divided into complete remission(CR), partial remission (PR).The correlation between volume change of cancer after treatment and the time-signal intensity curve (TIC),mean time to enhancement(MTE),time to peak(TTP),maximum slope of increase(MSI),maximum slope of decrease(MSD), negative enhancement integral (NEI) were analysed.Results After system chemoradiation for 2 months,4 of enrolled patients got complete remission and 17 partial remission.The reduction rate of the tumor diameter was negatively correlated to MSI values(r=-0.877,P<0.05) and positively related with NEI (r=0.819,P<0.05) before the treatment.15 days after the treatment, the diminished rate of the tumor diameter had active relation with change of TTP(r=0.765,P<0.05) and NEI(r=0.775,P<0.05).It indicated that MSI and NEI values before cervical cancer chemoradiation and the variation of TTP and NEI after treatment for 15 days could help predict the variation tendency of cancer diameter.Chemoradiation and therapy 1 month later,for all the parameters'' AUC values,the change rate of NEI were the largest one.When the critical value was not less than 96.46%, the sensitivity was 82.4%, specificity was 75%.TIC curve of type Ⅰ increased, type Ⅲ decreased to disappear gradually.Conclusion MDCE-MRI can be used to predict the efficacy of chemoradiation in cervical cancer patients, of which the MSI, TTP and NEI are more sensitive.

Objective　To study the induction of apoptosis by retinoid acid(RA) in Tca83 cell line and the expression of correlative Fas/FasL gene. Methods　Apoptosis of Tca83 was detected by TUNEL, the expression of Fas/FasL-mRNA was detected by RT-PCR and cell immunohistochemical technique. Results　The cell apoptosis number of Tca83 in RA group was significantly higher than that in non-RA groupe on day 5(P<0.05). The exepression of Fas-mRNA in RA group was also much higher than that in non-RA group on day 5 (P<0.05), but the level of FasLmRNR had no change. Immunohistochemistry also showed, after RA treatment, the Fas stain was enhanced. Conclusion　The result suggests that apoptosis induced by RA may be resulted from the enhancement of Fas gene transcription and translation.