title: BCL-2, p53 and HLA-DR antigen expression in surgically treated parotid cancer patients.
abstract: Our objective was to investigate the prognostic significance of bcl-2 protein, p53 protein and HLA-DR antigen expression in a group of surgically treated parotid cancer patients. We studied bcl-2, p53 and HLA-DR immunohistochemical expression in paraffin-embedded surgically removed tissue specimens derived from 26 patients with parotid cancer and 9 patients with Warthin parotid tumors operated between 2000 and 2006 at the Hippokration Hospital of Athens. The staining results were correlated with the patients' clinicopathological characteristics and clinical outcome. Bcl-2 expression was associated with a significantly decreased survival in patients with advanced tumor stage (P = 0.04), high grade lesions (P = 0.02), or cervical node involvement (P = 0.03). Radiotherapy was associated with a significantly improved recurrence-free survival among patients with negative tumor staining for either bcl-2, or both HLA-DR and bcl-2 [HLA-DR(-)/Bcl-2(-)] (P = 0.04 for both comparisons). Classical clinicopathologic factors failed to show prognostic value both in the univariate and the multivariate analyses performed. Our results suggest that bcl-2 can be used to identify locally advanced or histologically aggressive tumors with a lower survival probability following the application of standard treatment modalities. Furthermore, bcl-2(+) patients should be considered for more aggressive adjuvant treatment protocols, since conventional radiotherapy often fails to decrease relapse rates in this setting of patients.
authors.affiliation: 1st Department of Propaedeutic Surgery, Laboratory of Surgical Research, Hippokration Hospital of Athens, Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Genetzakis
authors.forename: Ilias P
authors.initials: IP
authors.lastname: Gomatos
authors.forename: Anastasia N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Georgiou
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Giotakis
authors.forename: Leonidas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Manolopoulos
authors.forename: Kappaonstantina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Papadimitriou
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chra
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Leandros
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tsigris
authors.forename: Eleutherios A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Ferekidis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010307:Parotid Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery; D011300:Preoperative Care; D011379:Prognosis; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D006684:HLA-DR Antigens; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53