Correlation of Mammographical Imaging Signs with Expression of Bcl-2 and Bax Proteins in Breast Cancer

AIM: To investigate the prevalence of the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax proteins and its correlation with mammographical imaging signs in patients with breast cancer. METHODS: Fifty-four breast cancers and twenty-six benign diseases were proved by pathologic methods and all cases underwent mammography. Immunohistochemical technique was performed to measure the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax proteins in these tissues. The correlation of imaging signs with the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax proteins in breast cancer and benign lesions was analyzed. RESULTS: The expressions of Bcl-2 and Bax proteins in the breast cancer were higher than those in benign breast diseases: 41/54 (76%) vs. 8/26 (31%) and 32/54 (59%) vs. 5/26 (19%), P = 0.0001 and 0.0008, respectively. The expressions of Bcl-2 and Bax proteins in breast tumor with spiculate sign were higher than those in breast tumors without spiculate sign: 26/30 (87%) vs. 15/24 (63%) and 22/30 (73%) vs. 10/24 (42%), P = 0.039 and 0.0186, respectively. The expression of Bcl-2 protein in breast tissues with clustered calcifications was higher than that without calcifications: 21/23 (91%) vs. 18/31 (58%), P = 0.007. CONCLUSION: Breast cancer has a higher rate of expression of Bcl-2 and Bax than benign breast diseases. Spiculate sign and clustered calcifications of breast cancer were closely related to the expressions of Bcl-2 and/or Bax proteins and these signs may reflect the biological behavior of breast tumor cells. Journal of Cancer Molecules 1(2): 99-102, 2005.