title: Prognostic impact of bcl-2 expression on advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Our aim was to evaluate the prognostic impact of bcl-2 expression on patients with advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred five patients with advanced NPC treated with high-dose radiotherapy were included. The relationship between bcl-2 expression, TNM stage, and disease-specific survival was analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Within the same stage III and IV, patients with negative bcl-2 expression had better disease-free survival. The disease-free survival of patients with stage IV NPC with negative bcl-2 expression was paradoxically better than that of patients with stage III NPC with positive bcl-2 expression. In the advanced NPC, the disease-free survival of patients with stage III cancer was better than that of patients with stage IV cancer (p = .06); in contrast, patients with bcl-2-positive tumors had a worse disease-free 5-year survival (p = .02). The Cox regression model revealed that only bcl-2 expression was statistically significant (p = .03).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In advanced staged NPC, bcl-2 expression represented an important prognostic factor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan. 53780@cch.org.tw
authors.forename: Mu-Kuan
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jui-Chung
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Cheng-Chuan
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Julia H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Yu-Jun
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Hui-Chuan
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy; D011379:Prognosis; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2