Authors: Alessandro Neri Daniele Marrelli Franco Roviello Giovanni De Marco Federico Mariani Alfonso De Stefano Tiziana Megha Stefano Caruso Gianni Corso Tommaso Cioppa Enrico Pinto
Publish Date: 2006/03/16
Volume: 99, Issue: 1, Pages: 77-83
Abstract
Alterations in the mechanisms of apoptosis are responsible not only for the progression of breast cancer but for different responses to treatment as well Among the genes regulators of apoptosis the tumor suppressor gene p53 and the bcl2 gene have raised interest for their possible role as predictors of response to therapy and markers of prognosis The purpose of our study was to prospectively analyze the prognostic value of the expression of p53 and bcl2 genes in a series of 235 consecutive patients operated on for breast cancer at the Department of General Surgery and Surgical Oncology of the University of Siena ItalyWith a median followup of 79 months an independent negative prognostic impact on disease free and overall survival was observed for presence of LVI absence of bcl2 expression and number of involved axillary lymphnodes The expression of bcl2 improved the prognosis of LVI positive tumors up to values similar to LVI negative cases while its absence associated to presence of LVI resulted in a poor outcome with only 28 of patients alive at 8 yearsThese data may indicate that expression of bcl2 is a marker of breast cancers with reduced capability of distant colonization even in presence of LVI and may be particularly useful in the clinical setting allowing to identify a subset of patients with an high risk of relapse
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