Study on expression of Survivin, Bcl-2 as well as their relationship with apoptosis in esophageal carcinoma

【Objective】To examine the expression of Survivin and Bcl-2 protein in esophageal carcinoma (EC) as well as their relationship with apoptosis. 【Methods】The expression of Survivin and Bcl-2 was detected by immunohistochemical (SP) methods in 39 cases of EC tissue, 23 cases of mucosa adjacent to cancer and 39 cases of nomal esophageal mucosa. Cell apoptosis was examined by TUNEL method. 【Results】The positive rate of Survivin protein expression was 59.0% (23/39) in cancer tissue, none in mucosa adjacent and nomal mucosa tissue. The expression of Survivin was related to lymph node metastasis (LNM). The positive rate of Survivin expression in LNM cases was significantly higher than that in cases without LNM (P 0.05). The positive rate of Bcl-2 protein expression was 69.2% (27/39) in cancer tissue, 21.7% (5/23) in mucosa adjacent to cancer , but none in nomal mucosa tissue. The positive rate of Bcl-2 expression in LNM cases was significantly higher than that in cases without LNM (P 0.05). There was a close relation between the expression of Survivin and Bcl-2 protein in the carcinoma tissues (P 0.01). The apoptosis index (AI) was (4.48±0.69) in carcinoma tissues, (12.67±2.20) in mucosa adjacent to cancer and (30.13±4.21) in nomal mucosa tissue, with a significantly lower than their negative cases (P 0.01). 【Conclusions】The high expression of Survivin and Bcl-2 protein is correlated with carcinogenesis, progression and metastasis of EC. Survivin and Bcl-2 protein maybe contribute to the occurrence of EC through cell apoptosis inhibition.