Expression of bcl-2 Protein in Breast Carcinoma with Correlation to Expression of p53 Protein and Clinicopathological Factors.

Expression of bcl-2 gene product was examined in 204 breast carcinomas in order to ascertain its clinicopathological significance. The bcl-2 protein was detected by immunohistochemistry on paraffin embedded tissue sections and its presence was confirmed by Western blot analysis of whole cell lysates. A strong positive correlation was noted among expression of bcl-2 protein in carcinoma cells, positivity of progesterone receptor (PR) and expression of p53 protein. However, no correlation could be observed among expression of bcl-2 protein, histological type of carcinoma, tumor size, lymph node metastasis and positivity of estrogen receptor (ER).