title: Apoptosis and adenocarcinoma of the cardia: expression of p53, Bcl-2, Bcl-XL, WAF1, and fas proteins and association with characteristics of the tumors.
abstract: Our knowledge regarding the biology of the gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinomas is still incomplete. Paraffin-embedded sections from 31 surgically resected primary cardia adenocarcinomas were examined by immunohistochemistry. Statistical analysis showed that Bcl-2 expression was significantly correlated with the age of the patients (P = 0.043), whereas Bcl-X(L) expression was inversely correlated with Bcl-2 expression (P = 0.021). An inverse correlation of high statistical significance was also found between p53 and Bcl-2 expression (P = 0.000). Fas expression was highly correlated with tumor stage (P = 0.006), degree of differentiation (P = 0.044), and the stage of the disease (P = 0.029). A significant correlation was also observed between the expression levels of WAF1 and Fas (P = 0.037), Fas and Bcl-X(L) (P = 0.018), and WAF1 and p53 (P = 0.018). These proteins may contribute to the estimation of the properties of adenocarcinomas of the gastroesophageal junction, facilitating prognosis of cancer patients treated by multimode therapy.
authors.affiliation: 14th Surgical Department, University of Athens, Athens, Greece. vlachoskonstantinos@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vlachos
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Siafakas
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karameris
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Athanasas
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Theodoropoulos
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Peros
authors.forename: Jordan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Papadopoulos
authors.forename: Nadey
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hakim
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000378:metabolism*; D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D017209:Apoptosis; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D002299:Cardia / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D050759:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21 / Q000378:metabolism*; D004943:Esophagogastric Junction / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000378:metabolism; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000378:metabolism*; D051020:bcl-X Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D019014:fas Receptor / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C493956:CDKN1A protein, human; D050759:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21; C491901:FAS protein, human; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D051020:bcl-X Protein; D019014:fas Receptor