Chitrangi Prashant Barpande, Vandana L. Gaopande, Avinash R. Joshi
BACKGROUND p53 plays a key role in malignant transformation of cervical epithelium. Bcl-2 is a regulator of apoptosis and is expressed in a variety of cancers. Ki-67 is a proliferation marker. MATERIALS AND METHODS Retrospective study of 98 ISCC of uterine cervix and 45 CIN cases was undertaken. Archived tissue blocks were retrieved and subjected to Immunohistochemistry (IHC) for p53, Bcl-2 and Ki-67. Results were analysed for statistical significance. RESULTS 26 cases belonged to stage IIIB & 18 to IIB i.e., higher stage of presentation was noted. 53% of CIN were HGCIN (CIN2+CIN3). Expression of Bcl-2 was higher in LGCIN (CIN1), as compared with HGCIN and the difference in immunoexpression was highly significant statistically. Immunoexpression of Bcl-2 was higher in CIN (44.44%) as compared to ISCC (19.38%) and the difference was significant statistically. Ki-67 immunoexpression showed an increasing trend with the progression of the disease (ISCC>HGCIN>LGCIN). There was significant difference in immunoexpression of Bcl-2 in p53 negative and p53 positive ISCC cases. Thus, this may suggest the p53 – Bcl-2 pathway of carcinogenesis in cervical cancer. CONCLUSION Bcl-2 can be used to distinguish between LGCIN & HGCIN because there is a significant difference of Bcl-2 expression in the two groups. Loss of Bcl-2 expression or absence of Bcl-2 expression could be used to predict invasion because there is a significant difference in Bcl-2 expression in CIN and ISCC.
