Decreased E-cadherin expression is associated with haematogenous recurrence and poor prognosis in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus.
Reduced expression of E-cadherin is associated with tumour invasiveness and metastasis. To elucidate whether E-cadherin expression correlates with clinical outcome in patients with oesophageal cancer, 62 patients were investigated immunohistochemically using an anti-E-cadherin monoclonal antibody (HECD-1). Eight patients had normal levels of expression in the tumour, 25 had tumours that expressed high levels (50 per cent or more tumour cells staining positive for E-cadherin) and 29 had tumours expressing low levels (less than 50 per cent of cells expressing E-cadherin). Patients with normally expressing tumours had a better prognosis at 3 years than those with low-expressing tumours (P < 0.05). Postoperative death was correlated significantly with lymphatic invasion, lymph node metastasis, E-cadherin expression and depth of invasion (P < 0.05). Furthermore, haematogenous recurrence was correlated with E-cadherin expression (rs = 0.38, P < 0.01) and blood vessel invasion (rs = 0.28, P < 0.05). These results suggest that evaluation of E-cadherin immunoreactivity may predict haematogenous recurrence and poor prognosis in patients with oesophageal cancer.
Tamura
S
S
Department of Surgery II, Osaka University Medical School, Japan.
Shiozaki
H
H
Miyata
M
M
Kadowaki
T
T
Inoue
M
M
Matsui
S
S
Iwazawa
T
T
Takayama
T
T
Takeichi
M
M
Monden
M
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D011379:Prognosis; D016019:Survival Analysis; D015996:Survival Rate; D019043:Vascular Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary
D015820:Cadherins