Significance of the serum level of soluble E-cadherin in patients with HCC.
OBJECTIVE
E-cadherin (E-cad) is a type of adhesion molecule, and recent studies have demonstrated a correlation between its expression in tumor lesions and the recurrence of HCC. Serum levels of soluble E-cad are significantly elevated in patients with several types of cancer. The authors evaluated the significance of the serum level of soluble E-cad as a predictor of early recurrences (intrahepatic or extrahepatic metastasis) of HCC after a curative resection.


METHODS
The concentrations of soluble E-cad in the serum of 25 HCC patients before surgery and 12 healthy subjects were measured using a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The hepatic expression of E-cad was examined by immunohistochemical staining.


RESULTS
The median serum soluble E-cad levels were significantly elevated in HCC patients before surgery in comparison to those in healthy subjects (10,759 ng/mL vs. 5,798 ng/mL, p < 0.05). The patients in the high serum soluble E-cad group experienced a higher incidence of early recurrence (p < 0.05). The levels of expression of E-cad in HCC lesions were not related to the serum levels of soluble E-cadherin.


CONCLUSIONS
The study demonstrated that serum soluble E-cad levels were elevated in patients with HCC, and high serum soluble E-cadherin (> or = 8,000 ng/ml) was associated with early recurrence or extrahepatic metastasis. Serum soluble E-cad may therefore be a potential prognostic marker for HCC.
Soyama
Akihiko
A
Department of Surgery, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki 852-8501, Japan.
Eguchi
Susumu
S
Takatsuki
Mitsuhisa
M
Kawashita
Yujo
Y
Hidaka
Masaaki
M
Tokai
Hirotaka
H
Nagayoshi
Shigeki
S
Mochizuki
Satoshi
S
Matsumoto
Shigehiro
S
Hamasaki
Koji
K
Tajima
Yoshitsugu
Y
Kanematsu
Takashi
T
D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D015820:Cadherins / Q000097:blood*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006498:Hepatectomy; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D015415:Biomarkers; D015820:Cadherins