Bcl-2 expression in cholangiocellular carcinoma is inversely correlated with biologically aggressive phenotypes

bcl-2 is known to play a crucial role in modulating carcinoma progression as well as in inhibiting apoptosis. However, its expression and clinical significance for cholangiocellular carcinoma (CCC) remains unclear. In the present study, we immunohistochemically investigated bcl-2 expression in 41 CCC. Thirteen cases (31.7%) were classified as bcl-2 positive, because more than 10% of the carcinoma cells expressed bcl-2. The expression of bcl-2 was inversely related to lymph node metastasis, vascular invasion, perineural invasion, the Ki-67 labeling index, aberrant p53 expression and the incidence of apoptotic cells. Furthermore, well or moderately differentiated carcinoma more frequently expressed bcl-2. These results suggest that downregulation of bcl-2 expression is strongly linked to highly biologically aggressive phenotypes of CCC.