title: Serum levels of bcl-2 in patients with colorectal cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Many recent studies focus on the immunohistochemical evaluation of Bcl-2 expression, and its prognostic significance in colorectal cancer (CRC). Our aim was to investigate the presence of bcl-2 protein in the serum and to examine the association between its levels, stage and tumour load, in patients with CRC.
  
  
  METHODS
  A commercially available ELISA was used for the estimation of bcl-2 levels, in 94 patients with different stages of CRC. Forty-eight healthy blood donors served as controls. Concentrations ranging 2SD above and below the controls median were accepted as "normal".
  
  
  RESULTS
  bcl-2 was detected in the serum of patients with CRC. A significantly higher proportion of patients with non-metastatic disease (61%), had high serum bcl-2 values, compared to patients with metastatic disease (28%, p<0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Serum bcl-2 in patients with CRC may reflect the degree of Bcl-2 expression in cancer tissue. Serum bcl-2 is easily determinable, and could be useful as a prognostic marker in CRC.
authors.affiliation: 1 Alexandrou Svolou, 546 22 Thessaloniki, Greece. kgiann@med.auth.gr
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Giannoulis
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fountzilas
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Angouridakis
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Angouridaki
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Giannoulis
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gamvros
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011336:Probability; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000097:blood*; D012016:Reference Values; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2