Prognostic significance of apoptotic index and bcl-2 and p53 expression in epithelial ovarian carcinoma

Purpose of the study: To determine if bcl-2 and p53 expression, and apoptotic index (AI) were associated with patient outcome in epithelial carcinomas of the ovary (EOC) and therefore useful as prognostic factors to predict survival. Methods: A total of 50 women with epithelial carcinomas of the ovary were retrospectively analyzed. The archival paraffin-embedded material of of these cases were evaluated for expression of p53 and bcl-2 by immunohistochemical techniques. Apoptotic cells were detected with an in situ hybridisation method. Results: A total of 33 (66%) of 50 cases showed positive immunoreactivity for the p53 antibody. Twenty-four of the 50 cases showed positive bcl-2 protein expression. Median value for AI was found to be 2.48. No statistically significant association was found between bcl-2 and p53 expression and clinicopathologic features. Univariate survival analysis of AI failed to reveal any effect on prognosis in the study population. Conclusion: We found neither p53 nor bcl-2 immunoreactivity to be of prognostic significance in patients with EOC. In addition, AI was not found to be an independent prognostic factor.