BAG-1 expression correlates highly with the malignant potential in early lesions (T1 and T2) of oral squamous cell carcinoma

BAG-1 is a Bcl-2-binding: protein that functions as an anti-apoptotic molec ule. III this report We show a possible correlation between BAG-1 expressio n levels and the probability of oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) progress ion. We investigated BAG-1 expression levels in 22 patients diagnosed with early lesions (T1 and T2) of oral SCCs using immunohistochemistry and weste rn blotting. High steady-state levels of BAG-1 were detected in 13 out of 2 9 cases (59%). High BAG-1 expression was observed more frequently in cases with nodal metastasis (89%) than in those without nodal metastasis (38%) (P < 0.03), suggesting that BAG-I expression levels may correlate with the pa thological stage of oral SCCs. Furthermore, BAG-I expression levels correla ted with the WHO grade, i.e. 45% in grade-I cases as opposed to 72% in grad e-II cases (P < 0.02). These data suggest that an analysis of BAG-I express ion may be useful in establishing a prognosis for patients with oral SCCs, and especially in predicting the metastatic potential of SSCs. (C) 2000 Els evier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.