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Abstract
Introduction. Bladder cancer is a prevalent malignancy with high recurrence and progression rates. Molecular markers like p53 and BCL-2 are implicated in tumor behavior — p53 in tumor suppression and BCL-2 in apoptosis inhibition — yet their clinical significance remains unclear. This study investigates the expression of p53 and BCL-2 in bladder cancer tissues and their associations with key clinical and pathological features to inform more personalized patient management.
Materials and Methods. Immunohistochemical analysis was performed on bladder cancer tissue samples to assess p53 and BCL-2 expression levels. Correlations with tumor grade, invasiveness, gender, age, and smoking status were examined.
Results. p53 expression was significantly higher in cancerous tissues than in normal tissues (p < 0.00001) and was associated with high-grade tumors (p = 0.03156). No significant difference in BCL-2 expression was observed between cancerous and normal tissues (p = 0.19706). No significant correlations were found between p53 and BCL-2 expression or with the clinical factors.
Conclusion. The overexpression of p53 in high-grade bladder cancer tissues highlights its potential role as a biomarker for tumor aggressiveness, whereas BCL-2 shows limited prognostic relevance.
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