The clinical significance of soluble E-cadherin in nonsmall cell lung cancer.
OBJECTIVE
Aberrant expression of the epithelial transmembrane adhesion molecule E-cadherin (E-cad) has been associated with many human malignancies. In the present study the clinical significance of serum levels of soluble E-cadherin (sE-cad) in newly diagnosed patients with non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was investigated.


METHODS
An enzyme linked immunospecific assay (ELISA) to determine the circulating levels of sE-cad in 20 newly diagnosed patients with NSCLC as well as in 29 healthy volunteers (control group) was used.


RESULTS
NSCLC patients exerted increased circulating levels of sE-cad compared with individuals of the control group (p < 0.001). An association was also detected between serum sE-cad levels and the development of distant metastases. On the contrary, no statistically significant correlation could be established with histological type, gender and smoking habits. Patients with increased sE-cad levels at diagnosis had worser outcome, although multivariate analysis failed to demonstrate that sE-cad levels represent an independent prognostic factor of survival.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data suggest that E-cad plays a role in the pathogenesis of NSCLC. sE-cad levels may be further studied as a potential prognostic biomarker.
Charalabopoulos
K
K
Department of Physiology, Clinical Unit, Ioannina University Medical Faculty, Greece. kcharala@cc.uoi.gr
Gogali
A
A
Dalavaga
Y
Y
Daskalopoulos
G
G
Vassiliou
M
M
Bablekos
G
G
Karakosta
A
A
Constantopoulos
S
S
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood; D015820:Cadherins / Q000097:blood*; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012907:Smoking
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D015820:Cadherins