E-cadherin expression associated with differentiation and prognosis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.
BACKGROUND
E-Cadherin plays a major role in maintaining the intercellular junctions in epithelial tissues. The reduction of E-cadherin expression in cancer cells may be associated with tumor differentiation, metastasis, and a poor prognosis.


METHODS
Immunohistochemistry for E-cadherin expression was performed on 109 tumors from patients with non-small cell lung cancer who underwent operations.


RESULTS
With respect to membranous immunostaining, 57 carcinomas were E-cadherin-positive, 39 carcinomas E-cadherin-reduced, and 13 carcinomas E-cadherin-negative. The percentage of poorly differentiated tumors in the impaired E-cadherin expression group was significantly higher than that in the E-cadherin-positive group (p = 0.005). Furthermore, the frequency of lymph node metastases in tumors with impaired E-cadherin expression was significantly higher than that in the E-cadherin-positive tumors (p = 0.011). A Cox regression analysis revealed that E-cadherin expression was a significant factor in the prediction of survival for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (p = 0.002).


CONCLUSIONS
E-Cadherin expression was associated with tumor differentiation, lymph node metastasis, and prognosis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.
Second Department of Surgery, Kagawa Medical University, Japan.
D
D
Liu
C
C
Huang
K
K
Kameyama
E
E
Hayashi
A
A
Yamauchi
S
S
Kobayashi
H
H
Yokomise
D015820:Cadherins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate
D015820:Cadherins