Nagi Chandandeep, Guttman Mitchell, Jaffer Shabnam, Qiao Rui, Keren Rinat, Triana Aymara, Li Maomi, Godbold James, Bleiweiss Ira J, Hazan Rachel B
Department of Pathology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2005 Dec;94(3):225-35. doi: 10.1007/s10549-005-7727-5.
Upregulation of N-cadherin in epithelial tumor cells has been shown to contribute to the invasive/metastatic phenotype. It remains however to be determined whether N-cadherin is increased in human breast cancers with enhanced malignant potential. We examined a large number of invasive breast cancer specimens (n = 114) for N- and E-cadherin. These specimens compared invasive duct carcinomas (IDCs) of varying histologic grades with an aggressive subtype, invasive micropapillary carcinoma of the breast (MPAP), which has a high propensity for lymphatic invasion and lymph node metastasis. Staining scores for N- and E-cadherin were compared between non-MPAP and MPAP IDCs, and between the invasive and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of each IDC using statistical analysis. We found that N-cadherin was expressed in 76% of MPAP and 52% of non-MPAP carcinomas, and E-cadherin in 57% of MPAP and 36% of non-MPAP tumors. More MPAP (25%) compared to non-MPAP (5%) tumors expressed both cadherins. Of the two cadherins, N-cadherin was significantly associated with MPAP tumors (p = 0.033) compared to E-cad (p = 0.171). Moreover, in the majority of tumors that were positive for N-cadherin, the staining scores were increased in the IDC relative to intraductal components, and this effect was more dramatic in the MPAP carcinomas. This difference for N-cadherin was greater than the corresponding difference for E-cadherin in the MPAP group (p = 0.005), whereas such changes were not significant in the non-MPAP group (p = 0.10). Thus, N-cadherin is associated with tumor aggressiveness and metastatic potential and may contribute to tumor progression.
上皮肿瘤细胞中N-钙黏蛋白的上调已被证明与侵袭性/转移表型有关。然而，N-钙黏蛋白在具有更高恶性潜能的人类乳腺癌中是否增加仍有待确定。我们检查了大量浸润性乳腺癌标本（n = 114）中的N-钙黏蛋白和E-钙黏蛋白。这些标本将不同组织学分级的浸润性导管癌（IDC）与一种侵袭性亚型——乳腺浸润性微乳头状癌（MPAP）进行比较，MPAP具有较高的淋巴侵袭和淋巴结转移倾向。使用统计分析比较了非MPAP和MPAP IDC之间以及每个IDC的浸润性癌和导管原位癌（DCIS）之间N-钙黏蛋白和E-钙黏蛋白的染色评分。我们发现，76%的MPAP癌和52%的非MPAP癌表达N-钙黏蛋白，57%的MPAP肿瘤和36%的非MPAP肿瘤表达E-钙黏蛋白。与非MPAP肿瘤（5%）相比，更多的MPAP肿瘤（25%）同时表达两种钙黏蛋白。在这两种钙黏蛋白中，与E-钙黏蛋白（p = 0.171）相比，N-钙黏蛋白与MPAP肿瘤显著相关（p = 0.033）。此外，在大多数N-钙黏蛋白阳性的肿瘤中，IDC相对于导管内成分的染色评分增加，并且这种效应在MPAP癌中更为显著。MPAP组中N-钙黏蛋白的这种差异大于E-钙黏蛋白的相应差异（p = 0.005），而在非MPAP组中这种变化不显著（p = 0.10）。因此，N-钙黏蛋白与肿瘤侵袭性和转移潜能相关，可能有助于肿瘤进展。
