Effect of Lymph Node-Targeted Chemotherapy with Carbon Nanoparticles Absorbing 5-Fluorouracil on Expressions of bcl-2,bax and Caspase-3 in Gastric Cancer Tissues and Metastatic Lymph Nodes

Objective To determine whether lymph node-targeted chemotherapy with carbon nanoparticles absorbing 5-FU affects expressions of bcl-2,bax and caspase-3 in gastric cancer tissues,metastatic lymph nodes and normal gastric mucosa.Methods Twenty-eight patients with gastric cancer in our department were divided into lymph node-targeted chemotherapy(LNTC) group and control group from October 2005 to August 2006.The patients were treated with carbon nanoparticles absorbing 5-FU before operation in LNTC group and those were operated directly in control group.The gastric cancer tissues,metastatic lymph nodes and normal gastric mucosa were collected after operation.The expressions of bcl-2,bax and caspase-3 in those tissues were determined by immunohistochemical technique.Results In LNTC group,the positive expression rate of bcl-2 in gastric cancer tissues and metastatic lymph nodes was significantly lower than those in control group(28.6% vs.78.6%,25.0% vs.70.0%,P0.05),the positive expression rate of bax(85.7% vs.28.6%,80.0% vs.30.0%) and caspase-3(57.1% vs.14.3%,55.0% vs.15.0%) in gastric cancer tissues and metastatic lymph nodes was significantly higher than those in control group(P0.05).The positive expression rate of bcl-2,bax and caspase-3 in normal gastric mucosa was not significantly different between two groups(P0.05).Conclusion The lymph node-targeted chemotherapy with carbon nanoparticles absorbing 5-FU can down-regulate the expression of bcl-2 and up-regulate the expression of bax and caspase-3 in gastric cancer tissues and metastatic lymph nodes,and therefore by affecting the expression levels of these apoptosis molecules may be one of the ways to induce tumor cell apoptosis.