Immunohistochemical Evaluation of Bcl-2 Marker in Various Grades of SquamousCell Carcinoma Dr. Pasricha Jessica, Post Graduate Student, Dr. Sircar Keya, Professor and Head, Dr. Arul Kennath. J., Reader, Dr. Singh Sanjeet, Senior Lecturer, Dr. Rastogi Varun, Senior Lecturer Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, D.J. College of Dental Sciences & Research, Modinagar. Abstract Introduction Bcl-2 derives its name from B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) as it is the second member of a range of proteins described as reciprocal gene translocation in chromosomes 14 and 18 in follicular lymphomas. Bcl-2 plays an important role in the regulation of apoptosis. Inhibition of apoptosis or programmed cell death is critical in the development of neoplasm. Bcl-2 is related to cancer development in the initial stages of carcinogenesis up to the appearance of metastasis. The over-expression of Bcl-2 in tumor cells contributes to the expansion of the damaged cell clone by preventing cell turnover due to programmed cell death, leading to cellular immortalization. By promoting cell survival Bcl-2 facilitates the permanent acquisition of mutations and malignant transformation. Aim To study the expression of Bcl-2 protein in various grades of squamous cell carcinoma. Material and Methods Formalin fixed, paraffin embedded sections from 18 samples of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) were chosen to obtain 6 samples each of well, moderate and poorly differentiated samples. Immunohistochemical staining was performed to evaluate the Bcl-2 expression. In each case, 100 cells were counted randomly from 5 different fields using 40X magnification. Results There was reduction from well to moderate to poorly differentiated OSCC and the reduction was found to be statistically significant. Top Keywords Bcl-2, Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Top |