title: Lack of correlation between serum levels of E- and P-cadherin fragments and the presence of breast cancer.
abstract: Breast cancers often show reduced expression of the transmembrane cell-cell adhesion protein, E-cadherin. In addition, approximately half of breast carcinomas express P-cadherin, which correlates with poor survival. A large fragment of the E-cadherin extracellular domain can be detected in serum, and it has been proposed that an increase in serum E-cadherin can denote the presence of a tumor. In this study, we tested the possibility that serum E- or P-cadherin levels might be useful diagnostic or prognostic indicators in breast cancer. However, we found no indication that the level of serum E-cadherin correlated with the presence of breast cancer. In addition, although we successfully detected a fragment of P-cadherin in serum, we found that its level was considerably lower than that of E-cadherin and did not correlate with the presence of P-cadherin-positive breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: The Lankenau Medical Research Center, Wynnewood, PA 19096, USA.
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Knudsen
authors.forename: C Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: K R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Wheelock
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Keshgegian
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Soler
mesh_terms: D001940:Breast / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology*; D015820:Cadherins / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins