Expression of cadherin and CSF dissemination in malignant astrocytic tumors

Cadherins are Ca2+-dependent cell adhesion molecules that play an important role in tissue construction and morphogenesis in multicellular organisms. Because in recent years there have been reports of cadherin involvement in tumor metastasis, we conducted an immunostain for E-cadherin and N-cadherin monoclonal antibodies in paraffin-embedded surgical specimens of primary a nd recurrent lesions in 13 cases of glioblastoma and nine cases of anaplast ic astrocytoma. No expression of E-cadherin was detected in the tumor cells . On the other hand, expression of N-cadherin was observed in malignant ast rocytic tumor cells, but the N-cadherin positive rate tended to be less at the time of recurrence. Decreased expression of N-cadherin was detected at the time of recurrence in II of the 13 cases in the glioblastoma group. Cer ebrospinal fluid (CSF) dissemination and extracranial metastasis were obser ved in nine (81.8%) of these ii patients. Therefore, we tried to analyze th e clinical backgrounds and the N-cadherin positive rates by statistics. We concluded that decreased expression of N-cadherin at the time of recurrence correlates with dissemination in malignant astrocytic tumors.