Low E-cadherin expression in bladder cancer at the transcriptional and protein level provides prognostic information.
We studied E-cadherin down-regulation at the protein level in frozen sections of 111 bladder tumours and 13 normal bladder specimens by means of immunohistochemistry, and at the mRNA level by semi-quantitative RT-PCR in 40 of the same tumours. Results indicate that E-cadherin expression detected by immunohistochemistry correlated with both stage and grade (P < 0.0001 and P < 0.001, respectively). Analysis of recurrence, progression and survival over a mean period of 36 months after surgery in the entire cohort showed that abnormal E-cadherin immunoreactivity correlated strongly with poor outcome (log-rank test: P = 0.001, P = 0.0001 and P = 0.0003, respectively). In multistep logistic regression analysis, only E-cadherin status and stage had significant additional prognostic value (P= 0.008 and OR = 0.2; P= 0.03 and OR = 3.6, respectively). Survival estimates derived from RT-PCR transcript quantification differed significantly for low and high expression (log-rank test: P = 0.0006). These results suggest that the alteration occurs at the transcriptional level and support the clinical and biological relevance of cell adhesion molecules in bladder cancer.
Popov
Z
Z
Centre de Recherches Chirurgicales, EMI-INSERM 99-09 Département de Santé Publique et de Pathologie, Hôpital Henri Mondor, Créteil, France.
Gil-Diez de Medina
S
S
Lefrere-Belda
M A
MA
Hoznek
A
A
Bastuji-Garin
S
S
Abbou
C C
CC
Thiery
J P
JP
Radvanyi
F
F
Chopin
D K
DK
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D015820:Cadherins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015996:Survival Rate; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D015820:Cadherins; D012333:RNA, Messenger