An immunohistochemical study of E-cadherin expression with correlations to clinicopathological features in gastric cancer.
OBJECTIVE
Reduced expression of E-cadherin leading to loss of cellular adhesion is crucial for cancer invasion and metastasis. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of E-cadherin in gastric tumorigenesis.


METHODS
Immunohistochemical expression of E-cadherin was analyzed and correlated with clinicopathological characteristics of 122 patients with gastric cancer.


RESULTS
Reduced E-cadherin expression was noted in 71 tumors (58.2%), while all normal epithelium showed a normal expression. Correlation of E-cadherin status to histological subtypes and growth patterns revealed a significantly higher frequency of reduced expression in diffuse type (46/60, 76.7%), advanced tumors (48/68, 70.6%) and stage III/IV (39/53, 73.6%) than that in intestinal type (25/62, 40.3%, p<0.0001), early tumors (23/54, 42.6%, p<0.005) and stage I/II (32/69, 46.4%, p<0.005) respectively. Moreover, abnormal expression was more frequent in tumors with positive lymph node metastasis (45/62, 72.6%), peritoneum seeding (10/11, 90.9%) and venous permeation (27/37, 73%) than that in tumors without lymph node metastasis (26/60, 43.3%, p<0.005), peritoneum seeding (61/111, 55.0%, p<0.05) and venous permeation (44/85, 51.8%, p<0.05). There is no statistical difference between E-cadherin expression and the status of perineural invasion or H. pylori infection. Analysis of survival for patients demonstrated that reduced E-cadherin expression was correlated with poor prognosis.


CONCLUSIONS
These data indicate that impaired expression of E-cadherin is an important characteristic of gastric cancer and contributes to histogenesis, tumor growth, metastasis and poor survival.
Department of Pathology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei.
C T
CT
Shun
M S
MS
Wu
J T
JT
Lin
H P
HP
Wang
R L
RL
Houng
W J
WJ
Lee
T H
TH
Wang
S M
SM
Chuang
D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D015996:Survival Rate
D015820:Cadherins