Abstract:

Objective    To detect  apoptosis-suppressor gene Bcl-xl expression in breast cancer tissues, and to discuss its correlation with clinical pathology characteristics and estrogen receptor (ER) and  progesterone receptor (PR) expressions. Methods    Bcl-xl, ER and PR expressions were determined in 39 cases of breast cancer tissues, 39 cases of breast tissues adjacent to carcinoma, 30 cases of hyperplastic breast tissues and 30 cases of normal breast tissues by the S-P method. Results    Compared with  normal breast tissues adjacent to carcinoma and hyperplasia and normal breast tissues, the positive rate of Bcl-xl in breast cancer tissues was significantly higher than the former (P<0.05). There were relations between the clinical stage and expression of Bclxl, the higher the stage, the more the expression (P<0.05). The same situation was on classification of tumor cells. There were some negative correlations among expressions of ER, PR and Bcl-xl (P<0.05), also there was a relationship with axillary lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). Conclusion    The apoptosis suppressor gene Bcl-xl in breast cancer tissues had significant relation to clinical stage, classification of tumor cells, axillary lymph node metastasis or not and expressions of ER and PR, it may play an important epigenetics role in breast cancer.

Key words: Apoptosisuppressor gene; Bclxl; Breast cancer; Estrogen receptor; Progesterone receptor