Background: Bcl-2 and BID play a major role in the process of apoptosis and their dysfunction underlies carcinogenesis. The study objective was to assess the expression of Bcl-2 and BID in gastric cancer cells in correlation with chosen clinicopathological parameters, presence of Helicobacter pylori infection, and patients' survival.
Materials and methods: The study involved 88 patients operated on for gastric cancer. The expressions of Bcl-2 and BID were determined immunohistochemically.
Results: Positive Bcl-2 expression was found in 55.7% and, BID in 53.6% of patients. The Bcl-2 expression correlated with stage pT3 and T4 gastric cancer (P < 0.05), with the intestinal type according to Lauren (P < 0.001), ulcerated type according to Bormann's classification (P < 0.01), and with local lymph node metastases (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: The Bcl-2 protein plays a key role in the process of gastric cancer formation and is associated with the growth of definite types of gastric cancer.