Background: We earlier observed altered expression of p53 and Bcl-xL in oral cancer cell lines/tissues and wanted to evaluate these proteins for prediction of radiotherapy response and outcome.
Methods: Thirty-nine paraffin-embedded, pretreatment oral cancer biopsies were analyzed for protein expression using immunohistochemistry and correlated with tumor response to radiotherapy and disease-free survival (DFS).
Result: High p53 (p = .040) was observed in female versus male patients. Increased p53 intensity (p = .063) was observed in tobacco habitués (chewers ± smokers) versus patients with no habits. In univariate analysis, nodal positivity (p = .044) and favorable/complete tumor response (p = .002) exhibited a significant correlation with DFS, whereas tumor response emerged as an independent predictor of DFS in multivariate analysis. Significantly high Bcl-xL (p = .048) was observed in the unfavorable versus favorable responders.
Conclusion: Our study suggests that Bcl-xL expression along with clinical parameters may be useful for identifying patients with oral cancer likely to draw maximum benefit from curative radiotherapy.
Keywords: Bcl-xL; oral cancer; p53; radiotherapy; tumor response.
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