Table 2
Staining pattern of apoptosis markers in normal colon mucosa, primary tumours, and liver metastases of patients with colorectal cancer
| Normal mucosa (n=8) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antigen | Basal crypt compartment | Upper 2/3 of the crypts | Primary tumours (n=14) | Metastases (n=48) |
| The number of patients for the intensity of the staining or percentage of positive tumour cells is presented. In some metastases or primary tumour samples it was not possible to evaluate protein expression. Significant differences were found between normal mucosa and tumour cells (from primary tumours and metastases) for Fas receptor (p < 0.002), bax (p < 0.02), bcl-xl (p < 0.04), mcl-1 (p < 0.005), bcl-2 (when expression is > 25%; p < 0.001), and Fas ligand (when expression is low; p < 0.001). No significant differences were found between primary tumours and metastases. | ||||
| Bcl-2 | ||||
| ≤25% | 0 | 8 | 14 | 42 |
| >25% | 8 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Fas receptor | ||||
| Positive | 8 | 8 | 13 | 29 |
| Negative | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15 |
| Fas ligand | ||||
| Low | 8 | 0 | 5 | 15 |
| Intermediate | 0 | 8 | 7 | 19 |
| High | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| Bax | ||||
| Diffuse | 0 | 0 | 8 | 32 |
| Apical | 8 | 8 | 5 | 14 |
| mcl-1 | ||||
| Diffuse | 0 | 0 | 9 | 29 |
| Apical | 8 | 8 | 4 | 17 |
| Bcl-xl | ||||
| Diffuse | 0 | 0 | 7 | 29 |
| Apical | 8 | 8 | 6 | 18 |
