TURKISH JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGY
2004 , Vol 19 , Num 4
SERUM BCL-2 LEVELS IN PATIENTS WITH MALIGNANT MELANOMA
1İ.Ü. Onkoloji Enstitüsü Temel Onkoloji ABD, İstanbul2İ.Ü. Onkoloji Enstitüsü Temel Onkoloji ABD Kanser Biyokimyası Bilim Dalı, İstanbul
3İ.Ü.Onkoloji Enstitüsü Prevantif Onkoloji ABD, İstanbul
4İ.Ü. Onkoloji Enstitüsü Klinik Onkoloji ABD, İstanbul
5İ.Ü. Onkoloji Enstitüsü We investigated the serum levels of an important protein, bcl-2, in 44 patients with malignant melanoma and the relationship with tumour progression and known prognostic parameters. Serum bcl-2 levels were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (Biosource International, Inc. 542 Flynn Road Camarillo, California, USA). The baseline serum bcl-2 levels were significantly higher in patients with malignant melanoma than in the control group (p=0,01). The bcl-2 values were not changed with Interferon-alfa therapy (n=8) and chemotherapy (n=10).With this small study, it is not possible to determine the value of serum levels of bcl-2 in malignant melanoma and larger scale research studies are needed in this field. Keywords : malignant melanoma, bcl-2, serum