Resistance of colon cancer cells to long-term 5-fluorouracil exposure is correlated to the relative level of Bcl-2 and Bcl-X(L) in addition to Bax and p53 status.
Transfection of the sialidase gene into colon cancer cells inhibited apoptosis and was accompanied by increased Bcl-2 and decreased caspase expression.
In both the uninvolved MIN mouse colonic epithelium and HT-29 colon cancer cells, nabumetone downregulated the anti-apoptotic protein, Bcl-2, with concomitant induction of apoptosis, suggesting a potential mechanism for colon cancer chemoprevention.
We report the case of a 53-year-old man who had a history of colon cancers related to constitutional hMLH1 mutation and who was diagnosed as having a duodenal follicular lymphoma This diagnosis was supported by IgH-BCL2 rearrangement and BCL2 immunoreactivity in tumor cells.
Other studies have suggested an inverse relationship between p53 and bcl-2 protein expression in breast and colonic cancers and in a variety of subtypes of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.