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Objective: To clarify the clinicopathologic significance of the expression of the Bcl-2 protein (pBcl-2) and the Bax protein (pBax), and their clinical implications in Chinese and Japanese patients with human invasive ductal carcinomas (IDCs) of the pancreas., Methods: The study included 59 Chinese and 65 Japanese patients with IDCs of the pancreas. pBcl-2 and pBax expression were immuno-stained with streptavidin-biotin (SAB) method., Results: pBcl-2 (+) was seen in 35.6% of Chinese and in 23.1% of Japanese patients. pBax (+) was seen in 49.2% of Chinese and 64.7% of Japanese patients. A comparison between them showed that there were significant differences in the male patients, in the patients with the moderately differentiated cancer, and in the elderly patients (chi squared = 4.447, P = 0.035; chi squared = 4.114, P = 0.043; chi squared = 6.657, P = 0.010 respective). In both Chinese and Japanese patients, those with pBcl-2 positive expression had a significantly higher survival rate than those with negative one (chi squared = 9.99, P = 0.0016; chi squared = 7.63, P = 0.0058). The group with pBax positive expression had a significantly higher survival rate in Japanese patients (chi squared = 9.37, P = 0.0022). Japanese patients whose tumors exhibited pBcl-2 and pBax positive immunostaining survived significantly longer than Chinese patients did (chi squared = 4.48, P = 0.0342; chi squared = 5.23, P = 0.023)., Conclusions: The expressions of both pBcl-2 and pBax are high found in Chinese and Japanese patients. The pBcl-2 positive expression implies a better prognosis in both Chinese and Japanese patients with IDCs of the pancreas. The effect of pBax expression on prognosis is different between Chinese and Japanese patients.

The Bcl-2 family is composed of a group of related proteins that either prevent or promote apoptosis. This study was undertaken to assess the prognostic value of Bcl-2, Bcl-x, and Bax in patients with astrocytomas. Tissue samples from 104 astrocytomas (WHO grade 2, 21 cases: grade 3, 49 cases; grade 4, 34 cases), including 68 primary and 36 recurrent tumors, were examined immunohistochemically for Bcl-2, Bcl-x, and Bax expression. Patient charts were reviewed for clinical presentation, and survival was followed. The mean values of the Bcl-2, Bcl-x, and Bax labeling indexes (LI) were 15.9 +/- 13.1%, 53.2 +/- 35.3%, and 25.9 +/- 23.2%, respectively. Statistical analysis showed that the Bcl-x LI of high-grade (grade 3 or 4) astrocytomas was higher than that of low-grade (grade 2) tumors (P = 0.0064). There were no significant differences in patient survival between the high- and low-LI groups of Bcl-2, Bcl-x, and Bax. Since the mechanism and regulation of apoptosis are still unclear, it seems difficult to use the Bcl-2 family as a biological marker in predicting the prognosis of patients with astrocytomas.