title: Immunohistochemical detection of Bcl-2 protein in small cell carcinomas.
abstract: The expression of Bcl-2 protein in 29 small cell carcinomas (SCCs; 6 surgical and 15 biopsy specimens obtained from various organs, 7 metastatic lymph nodes, and 1 metastatic liver tissue) was investigated by immunohistochemical technique. Negative staining was observed in only two cases (7%). The majority of Bcl-2-positive tumors had > 95% positive cells, with a moderate staining intensity. A combined small-cell lung cancer showed discordant staining results between two different histology types. No correlations of Bcl-2 immunoreactivity with p53 expression and clinical staging were found. Our findings suggest that Bcl-2 expression may play a certain role in the early phases of SCC tumorigenesis, or that it may solely be a succeeding property directly derived from the tumor progenitor cells. As the Bcl-2 protein was present in most cases, it is not a useful prognostic or treatment marker for the cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, National Cheng Kung University Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: F F
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Y C
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Y T
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Jin
mesh_terms: D018288:Carcinoma, Small Cell / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000378:metabolism*; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D014594:Uterine Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53