Clinical significance of E-cadherin and vimentin co-expression in breast cancer.

We examined the clinical significance of E-cadherin and vimentin expression in 83 patients with breast dancer. E-cadherin expression was correlated with axillary metastases, histologic grade, recurrence and disease-free survival, but not with overall survival. On the other hand, vimentin expression was correlated with axillary metastases and histologic grade, but not with recurrence, disease-free or overall survival. However, the co-expression of E-cadherin and vimentin was associated with axillary metastases, histologic grade and recurrence, and appeared as the most important prognostic factor in disease-free and overall survival. We therefore concluded that E-cadherin and vimentin expression in combination might provide prognostic information for breast cancer patients.