title: Flow cytometric analysis of apoptosis and bcl-2 in primary breast carcinomas: clinical and biological implications.
abstract: Analysis of programmed cell death (apoptosis), of bcl-2, a critical regulator of this process, and of the proliferative fraction may provide detailed information on the biologic characteristics of tumor cell populations. To investigate the potential role of these parameters in assessing mammary carcinoma, we adapted flow cytometric procedures for concurrent measurement of apoptosis, bcl-2 expression, and cell proliferation in 54 primary breast carcinomas and correlated the findings with traditional clinicopathologic information. Overall, a significant inverse relationship between apoptosis levels and bcl-2 expression was observed (P = 0.005). Apoptosis levels correlated significantly with DNA aneuploidy (P = 0.03) and S + G2M fractions (P = 0.005) of these tumors. A significant correlation between bcl-2 expression and estrogen receptor positivity (P = 0.05) and DNA diploidy (P = 0.02) was noted. Bcl-2 expression, however, was inversely correlated with S + G2M fractions (P = 0.001). We conclude that analysis of apoptosis and bcl-2 by flow cytometry allows further characterization of tumor cell populations that may be useful for prognostic and therapeutic management of breast carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston 77030, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Steck
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: McDonnell
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sneige
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: el-Naggar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D002455:Cell Division; D002460:Cell Line; D004249:DNA Damage; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases