Relationship between cell apoptosis, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression and biological behavior of human colorectal neoplasms

Objective: To study the apoptosis and the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in colorec-tal neoplasms and their relationship with neoplasm biological behavior. Methods: Apoptotic index (AI) and proliferative index (PI) were determined in paraffin-embedded tissues from 62 cases of colorectal carcinomas, 15 cases of colon adenomas and 10 cases of normal colon mucosa with immunohistochemistry S-P method and TUNEL technique. Results: The difference of PI and AI was significant in normal colon mucosa, colon adenomas and colorectal carcinomas (P0. 05). AI and PI of adenomas and adenocarcinomas were higher than that of normal mucosas(F0. 05). Moreover, lymph metastasis rate was higher in the group PI than the average and AI lower than the average (P0. 01). Conclusion: Imbalance between cell proliferation and apoptosis is an important factor of colorectal mucosal epithelial malignant transformation. It will be helpful to evaluate colorectal neoplasm biological behavior by both PCNA and apoptosis detection.