role of bcl-2 oncoprotein in epithelial differentiation and oncogenesis in oral dysplasia and squamous cell carcinoma: an immunohistochemical study

The apoptotic proto-oncogene bcl-2 is associated with follicular lymphoma involving trans-location [14:18] [q32;q2J] and is also overexpressed in various neoplasms We report deregulation of bcl-2 expression during progression from oral epithelial dysplasia to squamous cell carcinoma. Immunohistochemical analysis with monoclonal antibodies to bcl-2 oncoprotein in formalin-fixed paKaTin-embedded tissue sections obtained through surgical incisional and/ or cxcisional biopsies revealed that severe epithelial dysplasias had a higher percentage of immunoreactivity than did mild and moderate dysplasias and squamous cell carcinomas. Expression of this oncoprotein was directly proportional to the degree of epithelial dysplasia, and non dysplastic basal cells adjacent to neo-plastic lesions also expressed bcl-2 These findings, along with down-regulation of bcl-2 in differentiating carcinomas, suggest a role for this oncoprotein in relatively early stages of oral tumor progression Availability of such data could be useful for diagnosis, prognosis, and/ or selection of targeted treatment modalities for oral neoplasias The study of bcl-2 immunoreactivity possibly may be useful for better characterising and predicting the prognosis of oral SCC but cooperative studies are needed to assess its applications in the surgical [clinical] practice

Correlation of sonographic and Doppler findings with histopathological findings in premenopausal and postmenopausal bleeding

This study was carried on 50 patients complaining of abnormal uterine bleeding, 40 of them were suffering from premenopausal bleeding and the other 10 cases were complaining of postmenopausal bleeding. Transvaginal ultrasound [TVS] to measure the endometrial thickness and Pulsed - colour Doppler [PCD] of the uterine artery was clone for all cases. Endometrial sampling using vabra aspiration was then done for all the cases and the specimens were subjected to histopathological examination. The sonographic and colour Doppler findings were correlated with the histopathologic findings. From this study it was found that the uterine artery resistance index [0.93 +/- 0. 17] and pulsatility index decrease [1.87 +/- 0.22] as the pathological process increases. Also the endometrial thickness increases with the increase in the degree of the pathological condition [9.51 +/- 3.21] mm in premenopausal bleeding compared to 10.83 +/- 6.79mm in postmenopausal bleeding. It was concluded [rum this study that TVS and PCD are very reliable complementary procedures for screening and diagnosis of the etiology of abnormal uterine bleeding because TVS reports about endometrial morphology while PCD is concerned about endometrial vascularity which reflects the nature of the pathology rather than its gross anatomical features