Acta Med. 2008, 51: 107-112
Expression of Bcl-2 in Breast Cancer: Correlation with Clinicopathological Characteristics and Survival
Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women. It is an immensely heterogeneous disease, characterised by a broad variety of clinical development. The research in recent years has focused on finding new markers of prognosis. This study investigates the role of expression of the bcl-2 protein in breast cancer. We analysed bcl-2 expression in 57 women with primary breast carcinoma who were treated with neoadjuvant (primary) chemotherapy, followed by a surgical procedure. The bcl-2 expression was correlated with other clinicopathological characteristics of the tumour – histological grade, stage, expression of hormonal receptors, proliferation rate, and with the survival of the patients. No significant association of bcl-2 expression with either overall survival or disease free survival was found.
Keywords
Breast cancer, bcl-2, Apoptosis, Prognostic factor, Neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
Funding
The work was supported by grant from the Medical Faculty in Hradec Králové, Charles University in Prague, Grant No. 84121.
References
Copyright
Published by the Karolinum Press. For permission to use please write to actamedica@lfhk.cuni.cz.
