Bcl-2 immunohistochemistry in a surgical series of non-small cell lung cancer patients.
The bcl-2 gene is implicated in oncogenesis by its ability to prolong cell survival through the inhibition of apoptosis, without increasing cell proliferation. An association between immunohistochemical staining for bcl-2 protein and the histological type and prognosis of non-small cell carcinoma was hypothesized by Pezzella et al. (N Engl J Med 329:690-694, 1993). In a case series, we stained formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor tissue from 106 surgical non-small cell lung cancer patients with an antibody to bcl-2 protein (DAKO clone 124, Carpinteria, CA). The resulting bcl-2 staining data were evaluated for associations with demographic, histological, immunohistochemical, and genetic features, including p53 mutations. Bcl-2 staining was observed in tumors from 29 of 106 (27%) of subjects, but was significantly less frequent in subjects' adenocarcinoma histology (8 of 55, 14.6%) (P = .007). This finding persisted after adjustment for age, gender, stage, grade, smoking history, and disease-free survival. In univariate analyses, no association was seen with age, weight, body mass index, gender, or pack-years smoking; tumor grade, stage, or patient performance status; p53 or c-erbB2 immunohistochemical staining, or p53 mutations. These data agree with earlier reports that bcl-2 staining is less common in adenocarcinomas; however, our data do not support the hypothesis that bcl-2 staining confers a better prognosis overall, in squamous cell carcinoma, or in an older patient population.
Fleming
M V
MV
Laboratory of Human Carcinogenesis, NCI, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Guinee
D G
DG
Chu
W S
WS
Freedman
A N
AN
Caporaso
N E
NE
Bennett
W P
WP
Colby
T V
TV
Tazelaar
H
H
Abbondanzo
S L
SL
Jett
J
J
Pairolero
P
P
Trastek
V
V
Liotta
L A
LA
Harris
C C
CC
Travis
W D
WD
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000378:metabolism; D018287:Carcinoma, Large Cell / Q000378:metabolism; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000378:metabolism*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D016158:Genes, p53 / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000032:analysis*; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000032:analysis
D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53