Bcl-xL protein: predictor of complete tumor response in patients with oral cancer treated with curative radiotherapy.

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 habitues (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.