Prognostic value of Bcl-2, Bcl-xL and bax expression and serum DNA fragmentation products in patients with primary laryngeal carcinomas

ABSTRACT

Background and study aim: Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma [SCC] is the most frequent tumor of the head and neck region. Apoptosis is a genetically regulated cell death involved in the deletion of cells in normal as well as malignant tissues. Inhibition of apoptosis or programmed cell death may be critical both in the development of cancer and in determining response to therapy. Apoptotic sensitivity is modulated by Bcl-2-related proteins through interactions between positively and negatively acting family members. It has been shown that the proteins of the bcl-2 gene family heterodimerize and homodimerize with each other and the relative proportions of these dimers may determine whether or not a cell becomes apoptotic. A hallmark of apoptosis is DNA degradation. Circulating DNA has generally been referred to as cell free DNA. In various pathologic conditions, qualitative and quantitative changes in circulating DNA have been shown. In this work, we studied the expression of Bcl-2, Bcl-xL and Bax and the serum DNA fragments in patients with primary squamous cell carcinomas of the larynx and their correlations with the clinicopathologic tumor parameters