Immunohistochemical profiling of Bcl-2 and EGFR proteins in cervical carcinoma at a tertiary hospital in Ghana.

Abstract

Background: Using Immunohistochemistry (IHC) to assess the expression of EGFR and Bcl-2, and their correlations with clinicopathological features in a cohort of cervical cancer cases.

Methodology: A retrospective and descriptive study in Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) Kumasi, Ghana. Patients were women diagnosed with cervical cancer at KATH from January 2015 to December 2016. For inclusion, suitable archived formalin fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) cases with adequately preserved tissue blocks and available clinicopathological data were selected for Tissue Microarray (TMA), otherwise, the cases were excluded. One hundred and thirty-five out of 230 cervical cases met the inclusion criteria. IHC assesses EGFR and Bcl-2 expressions, correlating with clinicopathological features in cervical cancer cases, enhancing molecular-clinical insights in the Ghanaian context.

Results: The mean age of the cases was 58.9 (SD ± 17.88). Predominantly, 96.3% of the cases were of the squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) subtype. The majority of the cases (49.63%) were grade III. EGFR and Bcl-2 were expressed in 35.2% and 25.7% of the cases, respectively. Neither EGFR nor Bcl-2 showed any significant correlation with age, subtype, and histological grade. Significant inverse correlation was, however, observed between EGFR and Bcl-2 expression (P<0.001).

Conclusion: The age stratification shown in this study confirms earlier reports of late age at diagnosis, mostly observed in our setting, and therefore emphasizes the need for effective and population-wide screening programs to ensure early diagnosis. The significant inverse correlation between EGFR and Bcl-2, suggestively leans towards a possible role played by EGFR in downregulating Bcl-2.