CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL E-CADHERIN EXPRESSION IN HUMAN GASTRIC CARCINOMAS

Background. E-cadherin plays a crucial role in cell-cell adhesion in e pithelial tissues. Recent studies have shown a correlation between dec reased E-cadherin expression and cancer cell detachment. Methods. The expression of E-cadherin was immunohistochemically analyzed using anti human E-cadherin antibody in 121 cases of human gastric carcinoma. Res ults. In noncancerous areas, the epithelial cells, including those wit h intestinal metaplasia, were stained positively in the plasma membran e. In contrast, E-cadherin expression of the cancer cells varied from case to case in primary and secondary sites. Tumors with a decrease in E-cadherin occurred significantly more frequently in undifferentiated adenocarcinoma (P < 0.05) and scirrhous type (P < 0.01). The rate of E-cadherin-negative tumors was higher in patients with peritoneal meta stasis (P < 0.01) or in those with distant lymph node metastasis (P < 0.01), though the tumors with liver metastasis had relatively positive E-cadherin expression. Patterns of initial recurrence had similar res ults. Reduction or loss of E-cadherin expression correlated with short er survival in patients after curative operation regardless of stage o f disease. Conclusions. The decreased E-cadherin expression correlates with dedifferentiation, infiltrative tumor growth, distant metastasis , and poor survival for patients with gastric carcinoma. Thus, immunoh istochemical study of E-cadherin may have clinicopathologic value for patients with gastric carcinoma.