p53 protein and bcl-2 expression in glioblastomas. Pathological correlations in a comprehensive series

p53 and bcl-2 are two well-known antiapoptotic factors associated with gliomas, and mostly astrocytic tumors. In the present study we assessed, by immunohistochemistry, the expression of these two factors in a series of 50 glioblastomas. The correlations between their expression and several tumor-related factors (age, location, recurrence, proliferating potential) were investigated. Our results suggest that a valuable correlation between these factors cannot be found. This is in discrepancy with some literature data, which emphasize strong relations of p53 and bcl-2 in oncogenesis spreading or final prognosis. Further studies are needed, with unique, standard procedures for these evaluations.