Fragile histidine triad protein expression and correlation with apoptosis in rectal carcinoma

Abstract

To investigate the relationship between the expression of fragile histidine triad (FHIT) protein and the clinicopathological characteristics of rectal carcinoma. The relationship between FHIT protein expression and Bcl-2, Bax and survivin expression, as well as cell apoptosis in rectal carcinoma were explored. Tissue microarray and immunohistochemistry SP were used to detect the expression of FHIT, Bcl-2, Bax and Survivin in 16 cases of normal rectal tissue, 16 cases of rectal adenoma and 80 cases of rectal carcinoma. TUNEL was used to detect apoptosis index (AI) in 80 cases of rectal carcinoma. The positive rates of FHIT expression in normal rectal tissue, rectal adenoma and adenocarcinoma were 93.8%, 75.0% and 46.3% respectively. There were no significant differences between FHIT expression and histological types, gender and age (P>0.05). FHIT expression was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis, Duke's stage and 5-year survival rate. The expression of FHIT was positively correlated with that of Bcl-2, Bax and survivin in rectal cancer. The mean AI in FHIT-negative tumors was significantly lower than that in FHIT-positive tumors (P<0.01). The reduction of FHIT protein expression may play an important role in the development of rectal carcinoma, and FHIT protein may be associated with the regulation of cell apoptosis.