Expression of bcl 2 and its Relationship to the Apoptosis and Proliferation in Lung Cancer

Objective To explore the expression of apoptosis related gene bcl 2 in lung cancer and the relationship of expression of bcl 2 to apoptosis and proliferation.Methods In 38 cancer cases and 21 benign respiratory cases,in situ hybrization technique was applied to detect bcl 2 mRNA, TUNEL technique was applied to detect the apoptosis and the immunohistochemistry was applied to detect PCNA.The apoptotic index(AI) and mitotic index(MI) was defined.Results The amount of bcl 2 mRNA of lung cancer tissues increased obviously, P 0.01.The AI and MI of lung cancer(3.7%±2.4%,13.9%±15.1%,respectively) were higher than those of the benign lung tissues(0.8%±0.5%,0.9±3.2%,respectively), P 0.01;The AI of cancer tissues with bcl 2 positive(1.9%±1.2%) was obviously lower than that with bcl 2 negative(5.0%±2.2%), P 0.01;Their MIs were not distinctly different.Conclusion The amount of bcl 2 mRNA increased obviously and the apoptosis and proliferation were active in the lung cancer,bcl 2 played an important role in bcl dependent apoptotic mechanism in lung cancer,the expression of bcl 2 can prevent apoptosis.bcl 2,apoptosis and PCNA can be used as the lung cancer molecular markers.