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The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of COX-2 and Bcl-2 in primary fallopian tube carcinoma (PFTC), as well as their correlations with clinicopathologic features. We studied a cohort of 33 patients with a pathological diagnosis of PFTC. Thirty normal tubal tissues used for controls were obtained from patients diagnosed with uterine myomas. Expression analysis for COX-2 and Bcl-2 was performed using theimmunohistochemical technique. The rate of preoperative diagnosis was 18.2%. With a median survival of 61.0 months (95% CI: 43.2 to 78.8 months), the estimated five-year overall survival rate in the 33 patients was 39.0%. Increased expression of COX-2 and Bcl-2 was observed in tumor specimens compared to normal controls (p = 0.026; p = 0.003). The expression rate of COX-2 in node-positive tumors was significantly higher than that of node-negative tumors (p = 0.024). Moreover, the expression rate of COX-2 was statistically significantly higher in patients with infiltration through the serosa (p = 0.019). Positive significant associations were observed between Bcl-2 staining index and FIGO stage (p = 0.015), and between Bcl-2 staining and lymph node metastasis (p = 0.010). There was a significant correlation between COX-2 expression and Bcl-2 staining index (r = 0.517, p = 0.002). We conclude that COX-2 and Bcl-2 may potentially be useful prognostic markers for PFTC. The exact molecular mechanism for correlations between COX-2 and Bcl-2 remains to be elucidated. (Folia Histochemica et Cytobiologica 2011, Vol. 49, No. 3, 389-397) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether risk of gastric cancer (GC) was associated with single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a gene cluster on the chromosome 17q12-q21 (ERBB2 amplicon) in the Chinese Han population. We detected twenty-six SNPs in this gene cluster containing steroidogenic acute regulatory-related lipid transfer domain containing 3 (STARD3), protein phosphatase 1 regulatory subunit 1B (PPP1R1B/DARPP32), titin-cap (TCAP), per1-like domain containing 1(PERLD1/CAB2), human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (ERBB2/HER2), zinc-finger protein subfamily 1A 3 (ZNFN1A3/IKZF3) and DNA topoisomerase 2-alpha (TOP2A) genes in 311 patients with GC and in 425 controls by Sequenom. We found no associations between genetic variations and GC risk. However, haplotype analysis implied that the haplotype CCCT of STARD3 (rs9972882, rs881844, rs11869286 and rs1877031) conferred a protective effect on the susceptibility to GC (P=0.043, odds ratio [OR]=0.805, 95% confidence intervals [95% CI]=0.643–0.992). The STARD3 rs1877031 TC genotype endued histogenesis of gastric mucinous adenocarcinoma and signet-ring cell carcinoma (P=0.021, OR=2.882, 95% CI=1.173–7.084). We examined the expression of STARD3 in 243 tumor tissues out of the 311 GC patients and 20 adjacent normal gastric tissues using immumohistochemical (IHC) analysis and tissue microarrays (TMA). The expression of STARD3 was observed in the gastric parietal cells and in gastric tumor tissues and significantly correlated with gender (P=0.004), alcohol drinking (P<0.001), tumor location (P=0.007), histological type (P=0.005) and differentiation (P=0.023) in GC. We concluded that the combined effect of haplotype CCCT of STARD3 might affect GC susceptibility. STARD3 expression might be related to the tumorigenesis of GC in the Chinese population. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]