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Bcl-2 and Bax: Prognostic Factors in the Interstitial Brachytherapy of Prostatic Adenocarcinoma

We examined the potential use as predictive factor for therapeutical response to interstitial brachytherapy of bcl-2 and bax histochemical staining in prostatic biopsy of patients with organ-confined prostatic adenocarcinoma. Materials and Methods We evaluated the results on 24 patients treated in our Department with transperineal and transrectal ultrasound-guided permanent implantation of I-125 radioactive seeds. The average follow-up was 15.2 ± 5.6 months (range: 10–24) and we considered the biochemical control of the disease as primary end-point. We performed immunohistochemical analysis on tissue samples of prostatic biopsy using specific monoclonal antibodies anti-human bcl-2 and bax proteins. Results 5 patients (20.8%) were classified as non-responders and 19 as responders. Bcl-2 positive patients (26.1%) showed a superior rate of biochemical recurrence (50%) than negative ones (11.76%). Nevertheless this correlation was not statistically significant. Moreover immunohistochemical analysis of bax was not evaluable in all the examined samples because for technical reason. Conclusions So far on the basis of our results bcl-2 and bax immunohistochemical staining of prostatic biopsy samples cannot be used on a routine basis as prognostic factors in patients with localized prostatic adenocarcinoma treated with interstitial brachytherapy.