Correlation between prognosis and cell proliferation, apoptosis in squamous cell carcinoma of tongue / 中华口腔医学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the correlation between prognosis and cell proliferation, apoptosis in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of tongue.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Using TdT-mediated dUTP biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL) for cell apoptosis and immunohistochemical staining for proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), Bcl-2 and Bax protein expression.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In SCC of tongue, the positive rates of apoptosis index (AI), Bcl-2, Bax and PCNA were 55.8%, 65.4%, 73.1% and 100.0% respectively. In the univariate Kaplan-Meier analysis, low expression of Bax, high expression of PCNA, Bcl-2/Bax expression ratio > 1 and high staging were all associated with lower survival rate (Log-rank test, P < 0.05, respectively), AI was only correlated with grading. Bcl-2 did not show a significant association with all features.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The levels of Bax and PCNA expression and Bcl-2/Bax expression ratio have independent prognosis value in squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue. Comprehensive analysis of these parameters can be helpful to identify biological behavior and predict more accurately the prognosis of patients of tongue squamous cell carcinoma.</p>