Immunohistochemical expression of bcl-2 in Dukes' stage B and C colorectal carcinoma patients: correlation with p53 and ki-67 in evaluating prognostic significance

The objective of this study was to evaluate the expression of bcl-2 in Dukes' stage B and stage C (AJCC/UICC stage I and III) colorectal adenocarcinomas and to examine its association with clinicopathological features, p53, ki-67 and long term outcome. Paraffin embedded specimens from 61 patients with Dukes' stage B (AJCC/UICC stage I) and 39 patients with Dukes' stage C (AJCC/UICC stage III) colorectal adenocarcinoma who were treated with surgery were assessed. We used immunohistochemistry to determine the expression of bcl-2, p53 and ki-67 with a five-year follow-up. Positive bcl-2 expression was seen in 27 cases (27%). Expression of bcl-2 protein was related to tumor stage (p=0.0117). There was very strong evidence of an association between bcl-2 staining and ki-67 score (p