title: The E-cadherin repressor Snail is associated with lower overall survival of ovarian cancer patients.
abstract: Epithelial ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death among female genital malignancies. Reduced expression of the cell adhesion molecule E-cadherin was previously shown to be associated with adverse prognostic features. The role of the E-cadherin repressor Snail in ovarian cancer progression remains to be elucidated. We analysed formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded specimens of 48 primary ovarian tumours and corresponding metastases for expression of E-cadherin and Snail by immunohistochemistry. We found a significant correlation between E-cadherin expression in primary cancers and their corresponding metastases (P<0.001). This correlation was found for Snail expression as well (P<0.001). There was a significant (P=0.008) association of reduced E-cadherin expression in primary ovarian cancer with shorter overall survival. Similarly, Snail expression in corresponding metastases (P=0.047) was associated with reduced overall survival of the patients. Additionally, the group of patients showing reduced E-cadherin and increased Snail immunoreactivity in primary tumours and corresponding metastases, respectively, had a significantly higher risk of death (P=0.002 and 0.022, respectively) when compared to the patient group with the reference expression profile E-cadherin positive and Snail negative. Taken together, the results of our study show that the E-cadherin repressor Snail is associated with lower overall survival of ovarian cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathology, Technical University of Munich, Trogerstrasse 18, Munich D-81675, Germany.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Blechschmidt
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sassen
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schmalfeldt
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schuster
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Höfler
authors.forename: K-F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Becker
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015820:Cadherins / Q000235:genetics; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D018450:Disease Progression; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D016555:Matched-Pair Analysis; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D000071250:Snail Family Transcription Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D000071250:Snail Family Transcription Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors