Potential role of bcl-2 expression and apoptotic body index in colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Tumor growth is the result of proliferation and apoptosis. Bcl-2 is a proto-oncogene that inhibits apoptosis. The aim of the study was to investigate the clinicopathological correlations, interactions and prognostic significance of both bcl-2 protein expression and apoptotic body index (ABI) in colorectal cancer (CRCs). METHODOLOGY: Sixty colorectal cancer (CRC) patients had colonoscopic biopsies and tumor markers assay (CEA-CA19.9). The resected specimens were subjected for routine pathologic assessment, immunocytochemical staining for bcl-2 protein detection and immunofluorescence method for apoptotic body index. RESULTS: Bcl-2 immunostaining (IS) was positive in 29 patients (48.3%). The bcl-2 positive IS was significantly associated with -ve vascular invasion (P=0.05) and early tumor staging (P<0.01); the apoptotic body index had a median 3.5% and is neither correlated with bcl-2 or the clinicopathological variables. The overall survival (OS) was significantly associated with ABI (P<0.01), but not with bcl-2 expression and on bi-variant analysis, the OS is significantly better with high ABI in bcl-2 positive immunophenotype (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Bcl-2 is a marker of favorable parameters (-ve angioinvasion and early tumor staging) but of no prognostic value. The apoptotic body index (ABI) is a favorable prognostic factor and may be used as a stratification parameter especially the high ABI in bcl-2 +ve CRCs.

Hepatocyte growth factor as a tumor marker in the serum of patients with prostate cancer.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Prostate cancer is a leading cause of death among men worldwide; it is invasive and metastasizes to different organs. Metastatic spread of this type of cancer is the greatest barrier to achieve cure. The present study is carried out to study the serum levels of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in patients with prostate cancer in relation to stage and grade and to evaluate its diagnostic and prognostic clinical validity as a tumor marker. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study included 47 patients with prostate cancer and 15 apparently healthy men as a control group. The patients were divided into two groups, including 27 patients with localized prostate cancer (group I) and 20 patients with metastatic prostate cancer (group II). Detection of serum levels of HGF and prostate specific antigen (PSA) was carried out by an enzyme immunoassay. RESULTS: The serum levels of HGF and PSA were significantly increased in groups I and II as compared to the control group and were highest in group II. The best cut-off value for HGF was 663.8 pg/ml with 83% and 93.3% sensitivity and specificity, and was 4.4 ng/ml for PSA with a sensitivity and specificity of 85.1% and 100%; respectively; with positive and negative predictive values of 97.5%, 63.6% and 100%, 68.2%; respectively. Combining PSA and HGF was more accurate in distinguishing between patients with metastatic disease and those with localized disease than either marker alone with a sensitivity of 98.1% (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: HGF is elevated in the serum of patients with carcinoma of the prostate and this elevation is related to the stage of malignancy and is independent of age. These results imply that HGF may be an important serum marker for prostate cancer.