title: Expression of E-cadherin, alpha-catenin, beta-catenin and plakoglobin in esophageal carcinomas and its prognostic significance: immunohistochemical analysis of 96 lesions.
abstract: It has been suggested that inactivation of the cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion system plays a role in the initial steps of cancer invasion and metastasis. Expression of E-cadherin and its intracytoplasmic binding molecules, alpha-catenin, beta-catenin and plakoglobin was examined immunohistochemically in 96 esophageal squamous cell carcinomas to investigate the association between their expression and the prognosis for patients with esophageal cancer. Reduced E-cadherin, alpha-catenin, beta-catenin and plakoglobin expression was observed in 44, 72, 73 and 88% of the tumors, respectively. Reduced E-cadherin, alpha-catenin, beta-catenin and plakoglobin expression correlated closely with the differentiation grade of the esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (p < 0.05). Downregulation of alpha-catenin was associated with a poor prognosis in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (p < 0.05). This result suggests that downregulation of alpha-catenin, which may reflect dysfunction of the cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion system, is a factor indicating a poor prognosis in patients with esophageal cancer.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pathology, National Cancer Center Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakanishi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ochiai
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Akimoto
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tachimori
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hirohashi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015820:Cadherins / Q000032:analysis*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000032:analysis*; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D051180:Desmoplakins; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D016019:Survival Analysis; D015534:Trans-Activators; D051178:alpha Catenin; D051176:beta Catenin; D051185:gamma Catenin
chemical_list: C495273:CTNNA1 protein, human; C495270:CTNNB1 protein, human; D015820:Cadherins; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D051180:Desmoplakins; D015534:Trans-Activators; D051178:alpha Catenin; D051176:beta Catenin; D051185:gamma Catenin