title: Expression of E-cadherin and vimentin correlates with metastasis formation in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  E-cadherin is a transmembrane glycoprotein, involved in cell-cell adhesion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Vimentin is highly expressed in mesenchymal cells and is positively correlated with increased metastasis. Here we set out to determine the expression of E-cadherin and vimentin in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-six patients with primary stage II-IV HNSCC were included. E-cadherin and vimentin were visualised using immunohistochemistry, semi-automatically analysed for expression patterns and correlated with the clinical behaviour of these tumours.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A large variation in E-cadherin and vimentin expression was observed between tumours (median 17% range 0-51% respectively median 0% range 0-20%). Tumours with low E-cadherin expression showed a significantly higher incidence of metastasis formation compared to tumours with high expression (81% versus 19%, p=0.004). Enhanced expression of vimentin was associated with a trend towards a higher metastatic risk (33% versus 77%) compared to tumours without expression of vimentin. All patients with low E-cadherin and high vimentin expression (an EMT-phenotype) developed distant metastases versus only 44% of the other patients (p=0.008).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Loss of E-cadherin and gain of vimentin may be associated with enhanced migration of tumour cells, leading to higher metastatic risk of HNSCC patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, The Netherlands. m.nijkamp@rther.umcn.nl
authors.forename: Monique M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Nijkamp
authors.forename: Paul N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Span
authors.forename: Ilse J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Hoogsteen
authors.forename: Albert J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: van der Kogel
authors.forename: Johannes H A M
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kaanders
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bussink
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014746:Vimentin / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; D014746:Vimentin