Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0546837 (esophageal cancer)
 8,907 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

AIM:To determine the extent of apoptosis and its possible relationship with the changes of p53, Waflp21, bcl-2, and c-myc at different stages of esophageal carcinogenesis.METHODS:Two hundred and forty-one esophageal biopsy samples from symptom-free subjects and 38 surgically resected esophageal carcinoma tissues from a high-risk population for esophageal cancer in Henan, China were used in this study.Apoptotic cells and apoptotic bodies were identified by well-established morphological criteria. The extent of apoptosis and its possible relationship with the rate of cell proliferation (PCNA) and changes of p53, Waf1p21, bcl-2,and c-myc were analyzed in samples with esophageal precancerous and cancerous lesions.RESULTS:The apoptotic cells, identified morphologically, were located in the same proliferative compartment of hyperproliferative cell population in the esophageal epithelia as the cells immunostaining-positive for p53, bcl-2, c-myc and PCNA.The apoptotic indices (total number of apoptotic cells and apoptotic bodies per mm(2) of the tissue section) were low in the normal epithelia,and increased significantly as the lesions progressed from BCH to DYS and to SCC.The extent of apoptosis correlated well with the cell proliferation indices based on PCNA. The total number of positive cells for p53 stain was much higher than that of apoptotic cells. No difference in apoptotic indices was found between p53-positive and p53-negative samples. Waf1p21-positive cells resided in cell layers were higher in number than p53 and PCNA-positive cells. The number of immunostaining positive cells for Waflp21 increased slightly from normal to BCH,but decreased in DYS and SCC. Positive staining samples for bcl-2 and c-myc increased as the lesions progressed from BCH to DYS and to SCC. No apparent correlation between apoptosis and Waf1p21, bcl-2 or c-myc expression was observed.CONCLUSION:The extent of apoptosis was low in normal esophageal epithelium and increased as the lesions progressed. The apoptotic cells were located in the same hyperproliferative cell compartment as cells immunostaining-positive for p53, bcl-2,c-myc and PCNA,but no apparent correlation between apoptosis and these parameters was observed,possibly due to the complexities of molecular changes in esophageal carcinogenesis.
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PMID:Apoptosis and its relationship with cell proliferation, p53, Waf1p21, bcl-2 and c-myc in esophageal carcinogenesis studied with a high-risk population in northern China. 1181 1

The level of transforming growth factor beta1 (TGFbeta1) and transforming growth factor betaII receptor (TGFbetaRII) was determined immunohistochemically in normal tissues and tissues with different severities of lesions (basal cell hyperplasia, BCH; dysplasia, DYS; carcinoma in situ, CIS; and squamous cell carcinoma, SCC) from surgically resected human esophagi and esophageal biopsies of symptom-free subjects. The samples were from an area with high esophageal cancer incidence in northern China (Linzhou, formerly Linxian, and nearby county Huixian in Henan Province). Peroxidase immunostain (ABC) and conventional hematoxylin and eosin stain were used. The tissue sections were incubated with antibodies of TGFbeta1 and TGFbetaRII overnight. The immunoreactivity was observed in cytoplasm of the esophageal specimen. From normal to BCH to DYS to CIS and to SCC, the positive immunostaining rates for TGFbeta1 increased significantly (P < 0.05). A linear correlation between the positive immunostaining rates of TGFbeta1 and the different lesions was observed (P < 0.05). From well- to moderately- and poorly differentiated SCC, the positive immunostaining rates for TGFbeta1 decreased gradually, but the difference was not significant (P > 0.05). In contrast, with the lesions progressing from normal to BCH to DYS to CIS and to SCC, the positive immunostaining rates for TGFbetaRII decreased significantly (P < 0.05). From well- to moderately- and poorly differentiated SCC, the positive immunostaining rates for TGFbetaRII decreased significantly (P < 0.05). There was a linear correlation between the positive rates of TGFbetaRII and different lesions and SCC differentiation (P < 0.05). The present results indicated that the alterations of TGFbeta1 and TGFbetaRII is a frequent event in esophageal multistage carcinogenesis, the absent or lower expression of TGFbetaRII may lead to the loss of cell proliferation control by TGFbeta1 and the overexpression of TGFbeta1 may be a negative feedback response caused by the lower expression of TGFbetaRII protein.
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PMID:Changes of TGFbeta1 and TGFbetaRII expression in esophageal precancerous and cancerous lesions: a study of a high-risk population in Henan, northern China. 1206 47

PCNA and esophagin have been implicated in the multistep process of carcinogenesis, but simultaneous characterization of these proteins in the early stages of esophageal neoplastic progression has yet to be undertaken. In morphologically normal esophageal epithelium, esophagin stains the granular layer cells, principally in their cell membrane portions. PCNA, in contrast, stains the nuclei of cells in the parabasal and basal layers. We examined 201 regions from 47 patients that represented different stages of esophageal neoplasia, comprising 34 areas of normal mucosa, 18 of dysplasia in squamous epithelium (DYS/SC), 39 squamous cell carcinoma (SCCA), 29 areas of Barrett's esophagus, 48 of Barrett's dysplasia (DYS/BAR) and 33 areas of adenocarcinoma (AC). The immunostaining patterns of esophagin and PCNA were evaluated and graded for level of expression. There was loss of esophagin expression in the high- and low-grade dysplasias compared to normal epithelia. In the squamous dysplasias, there was more intense staining (of esophagin) in the atypical nuclei and superficial squamous epithelial cells than in the basal cells. PCNA staining was increased in intensity in the high-grade dysplasias relative to normal basal layer cells. Combined analysis of esophagin and PCNA appears to reveal an inverse relationship between proliferation and differentiation during esophageal neoplastic progression. Moreover, this combined staining approach also offers promise for detecting esophageal cancer in early, precancerous stages.
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PMID:Esophagin and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) are biomarkers of human esophageal neoplastic progression. 1522 70