title: Altered distribution and expression pattern of E-cadherin in hepatocellular carcinomas: correlations with prognosis and clinical features.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  E-cadherin has been identified as a tumor suppressor in many types of carcinoma. However, some studies recently suggested that the role and expression of E-cadherin might be more complex and diverse. In the present study, we evaluated the prognostic value of E-cadherin expression with reference to levels in membranes and cytoplasm, and the membrane/cytoplasm ratio, in hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) after curative hepatectomy.
  
  
  METHODS
  The expression of E-cadherin was assessed by immunohistochemistry in HCC tissue microarrays from 125 patients, and its prognostic values and other clinicopathlogical data were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were followed for a median period of 43.7 months (range 1 to 126 months).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Univariate analysis demonstrated that a high membrane/cytoplasm (M/C) ratio of E-cadherin expression was associated with poor overall survival (OS) (P =0.001) and shorter time to recurrence (TTR) (P =0.038), as well as tumor size, intrahepatic metastasis, and TNM stage. In contrast, neither membrane nor cytoplasmic expression of E-cadherin was related with OS and TTR. Furthermore, multivariate analysis confirmed the M/C ratio to be an independent predictor of OS (P =0.031). ?2 tests additionally showed that the M/C ratio of E-cadherin expression was related with early stage recurrence (P =0.012), rather than later stage recurrence.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The M/C ratio of E-cadherin expression is a strong predictor of postoperative survival and is associated with early stage recurrence in patients with HCC.
authors: Liver Cancer Institute, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Cancer Invasion, Ministry of Education, Shanghai, China.
authors: Xue-Mei
authors: XM
authors: Jiang
authors: Ju-Bo
authors: JB
authors: Zhang
authors: Ju
authors: J
authors: Xiong
authors: Xiao-Xi
authors: XX
authors: Huang
authors: Zheng-Gang
authors: ZG
authors: Ren
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015820:Cadherins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006498:Hepatectomy / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins