Association between BCL-2 expression and tumor recurrence in cervical cancer

Abstract

Objective : To evaluate the association between bcl-2 expression and tumor recurrence in cervical cancer. Design : Matched case-control study. Setting : Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) Medical College and Vajira Hospital and Maharaj Nakorn Chiangmai Hospital, Thailand. Subjects: Node negative cervical cancer patients who underwent radical hysterectomy with pelvic node dissection between January 1992 and June 1998. Cases were 32 patients who had tumor recurrence within 5 years after surgery. Controls were 63 patients who were disease free for at least 5 years after surgery. Controls should be within 10 years of age, had the tumor size within 1 cm. different from cases, had the same stage and tumor histology, and were operated in the same hospital, at the nearest date. All except one case had two matching controls. Methods : Paraffin embedded tissue of these patients were immunohistochemical stained for bcl-2. Results : Bcl-2 positive was demonstrated in 43.7% of recurrent cases, which was not different from 50.8% in non-recurrent controls (p=0.378). Tumor grade and lymph- vascular space invasion (LVSI) had significant association with tumor recurrence. Grade 2-3 patients had the odds ratio of 6.9 for recurrence compared to grade 1 patients. Those with LVSI had the recurrent odds ratio of 5.4 compared to those without LVSI. Conclusion: There is no association between bcl-2 expression and tumor recurrence in cervical cancer.