Altered Distribution and Expression Pattern of E-cadherin in Hepatocellular Carcinomas: Correlations with Prognosis and Clinical Features

作者:Jiang, Xue-Mei; Zhang, Ju-Bo; Xiong, Ju; Huang, Xiao-Xi; Ren, Zheng-Gang*
来源:Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention, 2012, 13(12): 6455-6461.
DOI:10.7314/APJCP.2012.13.12.6455

摘要

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). chi(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. Conclusion: 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.

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