Folia Histochemica et Cytobiologica (Jul 2011)

A multiple marker analysis of apoptosis-associated protein expression in non-small cell lung cancer in a Chinese population

  • En-Hua Wang,
  • Juan-Han Yu,
  • Xu-Yong Lin,
  • Hong-Tao Xu,
  • Chui-Feng Fan

DOI
https://doi.org/10.5603/4118
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 49, no. 2
pp. 231 – 239

Abstract

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A failure to undergo apoptosis is widely thought to be an important event in cancer formation and progression. Although there have been many studies <i>in vitro</i> that provide evidence for this suggestion, the roles of apoptosis-associated proteins in cancer tissues <i>in vivo</i> are not as yet fully understood. Moreover, multiple marker analyses of apoptosis-associated protein expression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissues are scarce. In the present study, we investigate the expression of a group of apoptosis-associated proteins including bcl-2, caspase-3, fas, fas ligand (fasL) and survivin, and its clinical significance in NSCLC tissues using immunohistochemistry (IHC). Bcl-2 staining in cancer tissue cells was found in cytoplasm and the positive rate was 38.2% (29/76). Caspase-3 staining was mainly seen in cytoplasm of cancer tissue cells (53.9% [41/76]) with a few cases of nuclear staining (6.6% [5/76]). Fas staining was seen in cytomembrane (15.8% [12/76]) and cytoplasm (42.1% [32/76]) of cancer tissue cells. Likewise, fasL also showed staining in cytoplasm (55.3% [42/76]) and cytomembrane (44.7% [34/76]) of cancer tissue cells. Survivin staining was seen in cytoplasm but not nuclear of cancer tissue cells and the positive rate was 48.7% (37/76). Higher cytoplasm expression of bcl-2 was associated with large tumor size (&#8805; 3cm) in NSCLC (p < 0.05). Decreased cytoplasm expression of fas was associated with poor grade in NSCLC (p < 0.05). A negative correlation was found between bcl-2 and cytoplasm caspase-3 expression in NSCLC (p < 0.001). No separate expression of the apoptosis-associated proteins in NSCLC was linked to overall survival of patients (p > 0.05). Multiple marker analyses revealed caspase-3+/cytomembrane fasL&#8211; to be linked to better survival of patients with NSCLC (p < 0.05). These results indicate that apoptosis- -associated proteins may impact a variety of clinicopathological features of NSCLC and may co-operatively influence the prognosis of patients with this malignant tumor. (Folia Histochemica et Cytobiologica 2011, Vol. 49, No. 2, 231&#8211;239)

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