Esophageal squamous cell carcinomas and expression of p53, Bcl-2, and Bcl-X(L).

p53 protein promotes apoptosis, whereas Bcl-2 family proteins have an antiapoptotic function. This study determines the predictive value of selected clinical and histopathological factors in correlation with the expression of p53, Bcl-2, and Bcl-X(L) proteins in esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs). Paraffin-embedded sections from 19 surgically resected primary esophageal SCCs were examined by immunohistochemistry. p53 expression was related to degree of tumor differentiation (P = 0.044). Bcl-2 expression was associated with regional lymph node metastasis (P = 0.053), whereas Bcl-X(L) expression was correlated with distant metastasis (P = 0.060) and with the expression of Bcl-2 protein (P = 0.068). p53 and Bcl-2 family proteins may help to estimate the properties of esophageal SCCs and provide useful information to the oncologist for the selection of patients for intensive combined therapy modalities with curative intention or for palliative therapy.

Apoptosis and adenocarcinoma of the cardia: expression of p53, Bcl-2, Bcl-XL, WAF1, and fas proteins and association with characteristics of the tumors.

Our knowledge regarding the biology of the gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinomas is still incomplete. Paraffin-embedded sections from 31 surgically resected primary cardia adenocarcinomas were examined by immunohistochemistry. Statistical analysis showed that Bcl-2 expression was significantly correlated with the age of the patients (P = 0.043), whereas Bcl-X(L) expression was inversely correlated with Bcl-2 expression (P = 0.021). An inverse correlation of high statistical significance was also found between p53 and Bcl-2 expression (P = 0.000). Fas expression was highly correlated with tumor stage (P = 0.006), degree of differentiation (P = 0.044), and the stage of the disease (P = 0.029). A significant correlation was also observed between the expression levels of WAF1 and Fas (P = 0.037), Fas and Bcl-X(L) (P = 0.018), and WAF1 and p53 (P = 0.018). These proteins may contribute to the estimation of the properties of adenocarcinomas of the gastroesophageal junction, facilitating prognosis of cancer patients treated by multimode therapy.

Fas and WAF1 expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinomas.

The Fas/FasL system plays an important role in the regulation of tumor apoptosis. This study examined the correlation between the expression levels of Fas and WAF1 with the clinicopathological characteristics of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) tumors. Paraffin-embedded sections from 19 surgically resected primary esophageal squamous cell carcinomas were examined by immunohistochemistry. At low expression levels (5% to 24%), a 4-fold higher expression of Fas relative to WAF1 expression was observed. High expression levels (50% to 74%) of Fas were not recorded, whereas such levels of expression for WAF1 were retained in a proportion of cells > 20%. Proteins WAF1 and Fas were both expressed in all lesions of SCCs. Lesions showing high expression levels of WAF1 have a high degree of differentiation, but a sample that expresses WAF1 and belongs to the morphology I category probably has a medium degree of differentiation.

Assessment of Interleukins IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10 in Acute Urticaria.

BACKGROUND: Urticaria is a skin disease that affects approximately 5% of the general population and manifests itself, not only as an acute but also as a chronic disease. The etiology of the disease varies as well as its clinical manifestations which extend from the presence of urticarial hives to the potentially mortal angioedema. There is a great interest to the disease not only due to its special clinical manifestation but also due to its pathogenetic mechanism. New data in the medical bibliography support the participation of interleukins (ILs) in the pathophysiology of urticaria. The aim of the study is to contribute in the comprehension of possible participation of certain ILs in the pathogenesis of acute urticaria. METHODS: Our study concerns four ILs, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10, simultaneously and their quantitative changes during the acute phase of urticaria as well as 2 weeks after drug administration. Moreover, ILs levels of patients were compared with those of matched healthy controls. All measurements have been done by the ELISA method. The statistical analysis was done by SPSS. RESULTS: The results present increased levels (in 51 patients vs. 22 matched healthy controls) of all four ILs during the acute phase. Especially for IL-4 this increase was statistically very significant (P < 0.001). Statistically marginally significant decrease was also observed for IL-10 concentrations (P < 0.059), for the two blood samples (acute phase and 2 weeks later). CONCLUSION: It is suggested by the present study that certain ILs might play an important role in the pathogenetic mechanism of urticaria. IL-4 and IL-10 participation seems to be relatively more significant. Possibly, ILs, liberated by mast cells, induce an influx of leukocytes in the dermis, therefore participating in the development of acute urticaria inflammation.