J Korean Cancer Assoc.  1997 Jun;29(3):404-411.

Clinicopathological Correlation of Bcl-2 and p53 Immunohistochemistry in Breast Cancer

• Koo JY
• Lee HD
• Jung WH

Abstract

PURPOSE: Bcl-2 and p53 are known to act as a regulator of apoptosis in breast cancer and we evaluated the significance of these gene expressions and correlation with prognostic factors in breast cancer.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
In order to investigate the expression of Bcl-2 and p53, we analyzed immunochemistry staining from paraffin blocks in a series of 80 women with breast cancer. Expression was then compared with the established indicators of prognosis.
RESULTS
Bcl-2 positivity was 45% and p53 was 32.2%. No relationships could be observed between bcl-2 and node status,tumor size and also between p53 and node status, differentiation,tumor size. Strong positive relationships were seen between bcl-2 and estrogen receptor (ER) (p<0.0001), progesterone receptor (PR) (p<0.001). p53 also showed relationships with ER and PR (p<0.05) Histologic (p<0.05) and nuclear grade (p<0.05) showed relationships with bcl-2 but not with p53. Inverse relationship was noted between p53 and ER, PR (p<0.05). Inverse relationship was also found between bcl-2 and p53 expression (p<0.001).
CONCLUSION
This study suggest that there may be a possibility that bcl-2 and p53 expressions can affect tumor growth and prognosis in breast cancer patients.

Keyword

Breast cancer; Bcl-2; p53

MeSH Terms

Apoptosis
Breast Neoplasms*
Breast*
Estrogens
Female
Gene Expression
Humans
Immunochemistry
Immunohistochemistry*
Paraffin
Prognosis
Receptors, Progesterone
Estrogens
Paraffin
Receptors, Progesterone