[Study of bcl-2 oncogene in squamous-cell carcinoma of the larynx].

Apoptosis is a special type of programmed cell death that occurs in the embryonic period, in normal adult tissues, and in several pathological situations. The Bcl-2 gene (B-cell leukemia/lymphoma) is the first member of an oncogene family whose main function is to increase cell survival and inhibit apoptosis, thus participating in the carcinogenic process. This relationship motivated our study of antiapoptosis through the immunohistochemical expression of Bcl-2 oncogene in 72 patients with cancer of the larynx who underwent surgery in our department. The correlation between immunohistochemical expression and clinical factors was analyzed: age, sex, work, smoking and drinking history, marital status, etc., as well as other known biological and histopathological prognostic factors (tumoral stage, histological grade, neck metastases, and local invasion). Bcl-2 expression showed a statistically significant correlation with histological grade and regional lymph node involvement, but no correlation with the other parameters studied.