[Expression and significance of E-cadherin in adenoid cystic carcinoma of the salivary glands].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: There are many researches on the relationship between E-cadherin and cancers, but the results from different studies are various. Recent studies showed that E-cadherin might have complex functions in tumor metastasis. This study was to explore the expression of E-cadherin in adenoid cystic carcinoma of the salivary glands and its correlations to nerve invasion, regional recurrence, distant metastasis and prognosis of this disease.

METHODS

The expression of E-cadherin in 55 specimens of adenoid cystic carcinoma of the salivary glands and 20 specimens of normal salivary gland tissue was detected by immunohistochemistry. Patients' survival was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier method. The differences between the 2 groups were compared by log-rank test and Chi2 test.

RESULTS

The 5-and 10-year cumulative survival rates of the 55 patients were 78.2% and 51.4%. The positive rate of E-cadherin was significantly higher in normal salivary gland tissues than in adenoid cystic carcinoma tissues (90.0% vs.63.6%, P<0.05). The positive rate of E-cadherin was significantly lower in the group with nerve invasion, regional recurrence and distant metastasis than in the group without (50.0% vs. 71.4%, P=0.012; 52.4% vs. 70.6%, P=0.046; 47.8% vs. 75.0%, P=0.013).

CONCLUSION

E-cadherin expression is down-regulated in adenoid cystic carcinoma of the salivary glands, which is correlated to nerve invasion, regional recurrence and distant metastasis.