@article{3141760, title = "BCL-2, p53 and HLA-DR antigen expression in surgically treated parotid cancer patients", author = "Genetzakis, Michael and Gomatos, Ilias P. and Georgiou, Anastasia N. and and Giotakis, John and Manolopoulos, Leonidas and Papadimitriou, and Isonstantina and Chra, Helen and Leandros, Emmanuel and Tsigris, and Christos and Ferekidis, Eleutherios A.", journal = "European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology: Official Journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS)", year = "2009", volume = "266", number = "3", pages = "417-424", publisher = "Springer-Verlag", issn = "0937-4477, 1434-4726", doi = "10.1007/s00405-008-0754-1", keywords = "Bcl-2; HLA-DR; p53; Parotid cancer; Prognosis", abstract = "Our objective was to investigate the prognostic significance of bcl-2 protein, p53 protein and HLA-DR antigen expression in a group of surgically treated parotid cancer patients. We studied bcl-2, p53 and HLA-DR immunohistochemical expression in paraffin-embedded surgically removed tissue specimens derived from 26 patients with parotid cancer and 9 patients with Warthin parotid tumors operated between 2000 and 2006 at the Hippokration Hospital of Athens. The staining results were correlated with the patients’ clinicopathological characteristics and clinical outcome. Bcl-2 expression was associated with a significantly decreased survival in patients with advanced tumor stage (P = 0.04), high grade lesions (P = 0.02), or cervical node involvement (P = 0.03). Radiotherapy was associated with a significantly improved recurrence-free survival among patients with negative tumor staining for either bcl-2, or both HLA-DR and bcl-2 [HLA-DR(-)/Bcl-2(-)] (P = 0.04 for both comparisons). Classical clinicopathologic factors failed to show prognostic value both in the univariate and the multivariate analyses performed. Our results suggest that bcl-2 can be used to identify locally advanced or histologically aggressive tumors with a lower survival probability following the application of standard treatment modalities. Furthermore, bcl-2(+) patients should be considered for more aggressive adjuvant treatment protocols, since conventional radiotherapy often fails to decrease relapse rates in this setting of patients." }