title: Expression profile of E-cadherin and N-cadherin in urothelial carcinoma of the upper urinary tract is associated with disease recurrence in patients undergoing nephroureterectomy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the impact of the expression profile of E-cadherin and N-cadherin in urothelial carcinoma of the upper urinary tract (UC-UUT) on the probability of intra- and extravesical disease recurrence in patients undergoing nephroureterectomy.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study included 59 consecutive patients diagnosed as having clinically localized UC-UUT who underwent nephroureterectomy. Expression levels of E-cadherin and N-cadherin in resected specimens from these patients were measured by immunohistochemical staining.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this series, intra- and extravesical recurrence occurred in 20 (33.9%) and 19 (32.2%) patients, respectively. Both intra- and extravesical recurrence-free survivals significantly favored patients with positive E-cadherin or negative N-cadherin expression compared with those of patients with reduced E-cadherin or positive N-cadherin expression, respectively. Univariate analysis identified pathologic T stage, multifocality, and N-cadherin expression as significant predictors of intravesical recurrence, of which multifocality and N-cadherin expression were independently related to intravesical recurrence-free survival on multivariate analysis. Furthermore, pathologic T stage, grade, lymph node metastasis, E-cadherin expression, and N-cadherin expression were significantly associated with extravesical recurrence-free survival on univariate analysis. Of these significant factors, pathologic T stage, grade, lymph node metastasis, and N-cadherin expression were shown to be independent predictors of extravesical recurrence on multivariate analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that expression profiles of E-cadherin and N-cadherin, particularly the gain of N-cadherin rather than loss of E-cadherin expression, in UC-UUT appeared to be significantly associated with disease recurrence after nephroureterectomy.
authors.affiliation: Division of Urology, Kobe University, Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Japan.
authors.forename: Mototsugu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Muramaki
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miyake
authors.forename: Tomoaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Terakawa
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kusuda
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujisawa
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000378:metabolism*; D009392:Nephrectomy; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D014516:Ureteral Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000556:secondary*; D019459:Urothelium / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins