TY - JOUR T1 - Correlation between Proliferation Markers: PCNA, Ki-67, MCM-2 and Antiapoptotic Protein Bcl-2 in Colorectal Cancer JF - Anticancer Research JO - Anticancer Res SP - 3049 LP - 3052 VL - 29 IS - 8 AU - KATARZYNA GUZIŃSKA-USTYMOWICZ AU - ANNA PRYCZYNICZ AU - ANDRZEJ KEMONA AU - JOLANTA CZYŻEWSKA Y1 - 2009/08/01 UR - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/29/8/3049.abstract N2 - Background: Colorectal cancer is a major oncological problem. The rate of cancer growth depends on proliferative activity and tumor cell death rate. Therefore, the study objective was to estimate the expression of Bcl-2 as an apoptotic protein representative, as well as other proteins involved in proliferation PCNA (proliferating cell nuclear antigen), Ki-67 and MCM-2 (minichromosome maintaince), and to analyze the correlations between them and chosen anatomo-clinical parameters. Materials and Methods: The expressions of these proteins were analyzed in 47 patients with pT3, G2 colorectal cancer by immunohistochemistry. Results: No association was found between the expressions of Bcl-2, PCNA, Ki-67, MCM-2 and histological type of tumor, distant metastasis, gender or age of patients. However, we observed a correlation of PCNA, Ki-67 and MCM-2 expressions, but not of Bcl-2, in the main mass of tumor in patients with lymph node metastases. Moreover, a very strong relationship was noted between the expression of Bcl-2 and PCNA, Ki-67 and MCM-2 in the main mass of tumor. Conlusion: These investigations seem to suggest that the expression of proliferative proteins (PCNA, Ki-67, MCM-2) in pT3, G2 of colorectal cancer may indicate the development of lymph node metastases and that inhibited apoptosis by Bcl-2 protein can enhance the action of these proteins in tumor progression. ER -