Apoptosis and its relationship with cell proliferation, p53, Waf1p21, bcl-2 and c-myc in esophageal carcinogenesis studied with a high-risk population in northern China

Figure 1 Apoptotic cells in human esophageal epithelia (H & E staining). Micrographs illustrate the apoptotic cells in normal tissue (A) and the tissues with lesions of BCH (B), DYS (C) and SCC (D). × 400. C’ and D’ were the higher magnification of C and D. × 1000. Scattered apoptotic cells (arrow) were located among the compartments of dysplastic and hyperproliferatic cells. The apoptotic bodies most often appeared as a single structure separated from the surrounding intact cells by a clear halo (C).

Figure 2 Immunostaining of Waf1p21 in biopsy samples of esophageal BCH. The Waf1p21-positive immunostaining cells were located at the third and forth cell layers of the epithelium (arrow). × 400

Figure 3 Changes of apoptosis and immunoreactivity of bcl-2 and c-myc in esophageal normal epithelia and epithelia with different severities of lesions.

Figure 4 Changes of apoptosis and cell proliferation determined by PCNA in esophageal carcinogenesis.