CORRELATION OF BCL 2 ONCOPROTEIN EXPRESSION AND ITS PROGNOSTIC SIGNIFICANCE IN COLORECTAL CARCINOMA WITH AGE, SITE GRADE AND STAGE

Background & Objective: Colorectal cancer is the third most prevalent malignancy with high mortality rate,necessitating markers that predict survival and guide the treatment. Previous studies have examined theimmunohistochemical expression of Bcl-2, anti apoptotic marker, in colorectal carcinoma, but results have beencontradictory.To evaluate the histopathological features of colorectal carcinoma, immunohistochemical expression ofBcl-2 must be analyzed to find out statistical association of Bcl-2 expression with certain prognostic factorshistopathologic type, grade and TNM staging and also clinical parameters like age gender, site. Methods: Thisprospective study was conducted on the colectomy specimens of colorectal carcinoma,over a period of 2 years 6monthsFrom may 2018 to November 2020 The tumor morphology and Bcl-2 status were evaluated by immunohistochemistry ineach case,with the inclusion criteria of resected intestinal specimens among which only malignant epithelial lesions andexclusion of all benign lesions. Results:The study included 40 cases,with age group of patients 51-60(37.5%) years andmale:female ratio of 1.2:1.Bcl-2 positivity was seen in 37.5% of the cases.Weak,moderate,and strong expression of Bcl-2was seen in 62.5%, 25%, and 12.5% of cases respectively. Even though early stages of colorectal carcinoma showedgreater frequency of Bcl-2 expression than advanced stages (25% versus 12.5%), however this association was notstatistically significant. Conclusion: The expression of bcl 2 out of 40 resected specimens of colorectal carcinomacorrelated with various histological and clinical paramaters .bcl 2 positivity was assessed by semiquantitaive methodand its expression was decreased with increase in grade and stage of the tumour and increased with the early stages ofcolorectal cancer