ASSESSMENT OF APOPTOSIS IN ESOPHAGEAL-CARCINOMA PREOPERATIVELY TREATED BY CHEMOTHERAPY AND RADIOTHERAPY

Apoptosis, programmed cell death, was immunohistochemically determined in 55 samples of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma using the BM1 Mab. Sections from patients not treated (group 1, n = 12) or preoperatively treated by chemotherapy (group 2, n = 11), radiation (group 3, n = 13) or both (group 4, n = 8), and 11 additional cases of high-grade dysplasia or early cancer were examined. Most of the apoptotic cells were BM1-positive and checked by TUNEL proved to be nick and positive. They accounted for 7 (11%), 19 (29%), 21 (32%) and 26 (38%) cells per field in those 4 groups respectively. Chemotherapy and/or radiation significantly increased the number of apoptotic cells as compared to controls (p = 0.029 and p = 0.029, respectively). To assess the implications of the oncogene expression in the apoptotic pathway, additional section stained with bclI and p53 were negative for bcl2 and were positive for p53 in 16 samples (37%). Overall, positive cases for p53 protein decrease the apoptotic response in oesophageal carcinoma, and that immunohistochemical analysis of p53 protein helps to determine the sensitivity to these anticancer agents.