Circulating soluble E-cadherin levels are of prognostic significance in patients with multiple myeloma.
BACKGROUND
The epithelial transmembrane molecule E-cadherin (E-Cad) is the prime mediator of epithelial cell-cell adhesion, through homotypic interactions. It also participates in the maintenance of cytoskeletal structure and cell-cell signalling, while there are no published reports of expression of E-Cad in non-epithelial tissues. We examined whether the circulating levels of soluble E-Cad in newly diagnosed patients with multiple myeloma (MM) are of prognostic significance.


METHODS
We used an ELISA method to determine the levels of circulating soluble E-cadherin (sE-Cad) in 21 newly diagnosed patients with MM and in 29 healthy volunteers, as a control group.


RESULTS
MM patients demonstrated increased circulating levels of sE-Cad, compared with controls (p<0.0001). Increased circulating sE-Cad levels correlated with LDH levels at diagnosis (p<0.001) and poor prognosis. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that sE-Cad levels are an independent prognostic factor of survival (p<0.0207).


CONCLUSIONS
Our data suggest that adhesion molecules play a role in the pathogenesis of MM, establish sE-Cad as an independent marker of survival and, finally, provide evidence of non-epithelial production of E-Cad in MM patients.
Oncology Unit, 3rd Department of Medicine, Athens Medical School, Sotiria General Hospital, Athens, Greece. knsyrigos@usa.net
K N
KN
Syrigos
K J
KJ
Harrington
A J
AJ
Karayiannakis
N
N
Baibas
N
N
Katirtzoglou
P
P
Roussou
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015820:Cadherins / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009101:Multiple Myeloma / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D012995:Solubility
D015820:Cadherins; D015850:Interleukin-6