Objectives: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the role of soluble E-
cadherin as a serum marker and bcl-2 and DNA content as tissue markers in c
haracterization and management of prostatic adenocarcinoma (PC) among Egypt
ian males.
Design and Methods: The study group included 71 patients with prostatic ade
nocarcinoma, 30 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and 20 no
rmal male subjects. Serum soluble E-cadherin (sE-cadherin) and PSA were qua
ntified by ELISA and MEIA (microparticle enzyme immunoassay) techniques, re
spectively. Tissue samples were investigated for bcl-2 chromosomal transloc
ation t(14;18) by polymerase chain reaction (PGR) together with detection o
f bcl-2 protein expression by immunohistochemistry. The results were correl
ated with DNA content las defined by flow cytometric analysis) and also wit
h traditional clinicopathologic parameters.
Results: Our data revealed that, serum PSA was superior to sE-cadherin as a
marker for PC with a sensitivity of 83% compared to 59% in case of E-cadhe
rin at the same specificity (96.6%). Combination of both markers raised the
sensitivity to 90%. E-cadherin correlated with Gleason score. Ploidy statu
s, synthetic phase fraction (SPF), and proliferation index (PI) correlated
significantly with tumor Gleason score. PI was also correlated to clinical
stage. bcl-2 protein was overexpressed in 14% of PC and it showed a trend f
or correlation with tumor Gleason score (p = 0.06). We failed to detect chr
omosomal t(14;18) in the bcl-2 gene in all the studied tumors.
Conclusions: E-Cadherin is a clinically useful biomarker in PC specially in
combination with PSA. DNA content changes and bcl-2 oncogene may account f
or tumorogenesis and may assist in prognostication of PC. Copyright (C) 199
9 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists.