E-cadherin in non-tumor epithelium adjacent to oral cancer as risk marker for the development of multiple tumors.
Our aim was to find out whether the loss of E-cadherin is a risk factor for the development of multiple tumours in the oral cavity and whether it could serve as a diagnostic marker for oral premalignant fields. We studied 77 oral squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) with associated non-tumour epithelia from 61 patients. Immunohistochemical studies (antibody NHC-38) were used to investigate E-cadherin expression, which was completely lost in basal (48% of cases) and parabasal (43%) layers of non-tumour epithelia close to the tumour and in basal (47%) and parabasal (38%) layers of non-tumour epithelia distant from the tumour. In multiple tumours E-cadherin expression was significantly lower than in single tumours in the basal, parabasal layers, and the middle third of close (p=0.002, <0.001, <0.001) and distant (p=0.041, p<0.001, p=0.005) non-tumour epithelia, respectively. Downregulation of E-cadherin may be valuable as a risk marker for the development of multiple tumours in the oral cavity and for the diagnosis of premalignant fields.
Oral Medicine Department, School of Dentistry, University of Granada, Paseo de Cartuja s/n, 18071 Granada, Spain. magonzal@ugr.es
M A
MA
González-Moles
M
M
Bravo
I
I
Ruiz-Avila
J A
JA
Gil-Montoya
F
F
Acebal
F
F
Esteban
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019540:Area Under Curve; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D015820:Cadherins / Q000032:analysis*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015536:Down-Regulation; D004848:Epithelium / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005881:Gingiva / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000473:pathology; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000473:pathology*; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D009078:Mucocele / Q000473:pathology; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009378:Neoplasms, Multiple Primary / Q000473:pathology*; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000473:pathology; D012372:ROC Curve; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D015820:Cadherins