TY - JOUR
TI - Is there any potential link among caspase-8, p-p38 MAPK and bcl-2 in
clear cell renal cell carcinomas? A comparative immunohistochemical
analysis with clinical connotations
AU - Samaras, Vassilis
AU - Tsopanomichalou, Maria
AU - Stamatelli, Angeliki
AU - and Arnaoutoglou, Christos
AU - Samaras, Efstathios
AU - Arnaoutoglou,
AU - Marianthi
AU - Poulias, Hercules
AU - Barbatis, Calypso
JO - Diagnostic Pathology
PY - 2009
VL - 4
TODO - null
SP - null
PB - BMC
SN - 1746-1596
TODO - 10.1186/1746-1596-4-7
TODO - null
TODO - Background: Clear cell renal cell carcinomas (ccRCCs) constitute the
most common renal carcinomas, characterized by a relatively aggressive
clinical course. Thus, scientific research is targeting towards the
identification of immunohistochemical and molecular markers that could
be useful regarding diagnosis, appropriate therapy and prediction of
prognosis. In the present study we assessed and correlated the
expression of caspase-8, phosphorylated p38 mitogen-activated protein
kinase (p-p38) and bcl-2 protein with histopathological features and
clinical outcome of 27 patients with ccRCCs.
Method: Immunohistochemistry in formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded
tissue sections was performed. The associations among various features
were assessed utilizing statistical analysis.
Results: We found that increased expression of cytoplasmic caspase-8 and
bcl-2 protein was strongly associated with low Fuhrman’s grade of
carcinomas (p = 0.019 and p = 0.041, respectively). On the other hand,
increased p-p38 expression was significantly related to high Fuhrman’s
grade (p = 0.006). Moreover, high bcl-2 expression was correlated with
low pathological stage of ccRCCs (p = 0.026). Increased expression of
cytoplasmic caspase-8 as well as low-grade tumors (grade 1 and 2)
implied a greater probability of patients’ survival, in univariate
statistical analysis (p = 0.037 and p = 0.019, respectively). Neither
p-p38 nor bcl-2 expression was significantly linked to patients’
survival. There were not emerged statistically significant associations
among caspase-8, p-p38 kinase and bcl-2 protein.
Conclusion: For the first time the prognostic impact of caspase-8 and
p-p38 was studied in a series of ccRCCs, using immunohistochemistry in
formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue sections. The suggestive
relationship of caspase-8 with patients’ clinical outcome, as well as
the role of p-p38 within different grade categories, mandates further
studies in larger cohorts of RCCs.
ER -