Significance Of Expression Of Fas/FasL In Biliary Tract Carcinoma

Objective: To investigate the relationship between the expression ofFas/FasL protein and the biological character of biliary tract carcinoma.Method: Immunohistochemical technics was adopted to study theexpression of Fas/FasL protein in 33 cases of gallbladder carcinoma, 19cases of gallbladder adenoma, 3 cases of gallbladder epithelial dysplasiaand 20 cases of chronic cholecystis. The expression of FasL and cellularapoptosis of tumor-infiltration lymphocyte in 48 specimens of resectedhuman hilar cholangiocacinoma tissue and cultured cholangiocarcinomacell line (QBC939) were also analyzed by immunohistochemistry andTUNEL. Result: The positive of FasL in carcinoma, adenoma anddysplasia were 81.8% (27/33), 84.2% (16/19) and 100% (3/3)respectively. There was not significant difference among them. Thepositive of FasL in cholecystitis was 55% (11/20), which was much lowerthan carcinoma and adenoma groups (p＜0.05). The expression of FasLwas not correlated with metastasis and differentiation. The positive of Fasin cholecystitis, adenoma and dysplasia were 80% (16/20), 73.7% (14/19)and 100% (3/3) respectively, there was not significant difference amongthem. The positive of Fas in carcinoma was 39.4% (13/33), which wassignificant lower than in cholecytis and adenoma groups (p＜0.05). Thepositive of Fas in poorly-differentiated carcinoma was significantly lowerthan in well-moderated-differentiated carcinoma (p＜0.05), but it was notcorrelated with metastasis. There was not a correlation between theexpression of Fas and FasL in gallbladder carcinoma. Prevalentexpression of FasL was detected in 48 cases of resected hilarcholangiocarcinoma and cultured cholangiocarcinoma cell line (QBC939).TUNEL staining disclosed a high level of cell death among lymphocytes infiltrating FasL positive areas of tumor. Conclusion: The expressionof Fas/FasL might be correlated with the biological behaviors ofgallbladder carcinoma. And there might be some extent coordinatedregulation among them. The hilar cholangiocarcinoma cells could escapethe immunological surveillance by inducing apoptosis of activatedlymphocytes, via the Fas/FasL way.