Apoptosis and adenocarcinoma of the cardia: expression of p53, Bcl-2, Bcl-XL, WAF1, and fas proteins and association with characteristics of the tumors.
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.
Vlachos
Konstantinos
K
14th Surgical Department, University of Athens, Athens, Greece. vlachoskonstantinos@yahoo.com
Siafakas
Nikolaos
N
Karameris
Andreas
A
Athanasas
George
G
Theodoropoulos
George
G
Peros
George
G
Papadopoulos
Jordan
J
Hakim
Nadey
N
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*
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