Laboratory of Medical Investigation (LIM55), Urology Department, University of Sao Paulo Medical School, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Int Braz J Urol. 2012 Jul-Aug;38(4):466-73. doi: 10.1590/s1677-55382012000400005.
Cell adhesion molecules (CAM) are required for maintaining a normal epithelial phenotype, and abnormalities in CAM expression have been related to cancer progression, including bladder urothelial carcinomas. There is only one study that correlates E-cadherin and Α-, Β- and y-catenin expression with prognosis of upper tract urothelial carcinomas. Our aim is to study the pattern of immune expression of these CAMs in urothelial carcinomas from the renal pelvis and ureter in patients who have been treated surgically. Our goal is to correlate these expression levels and characteristics with well-known prognostic parameters for disease-free survival.
We evaluated specimens from 20 patients with urothelial carcinomas of the renal pelvis and ureter who were treated with nephroureterectomy or ureterectomy between June 1997 and January 2007. CAM expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry in a tissue microarray and correlated with histopathological characteristics and patient outcomes after a mean follow-up of 55 months.
We observed a relationship between E-cadherin expression and disease recurrence. Disease recurrence occurred in 87.5% of patients with strong E-cadherin expression. Only 50.0% of patients with moderate expression and 0% of patients with weak or no expression of E-cadherin had disease recurrence (p = 0.014). There was also a difference in disease-free survival. Patients with strong E-cadherin expression had a mean disease-free survival rate of 49.1 months, compared to 83.9 months for patients with moderate expression (p = 0.011). Additionally, an absence of Α-catenin expression was associated with tumors that were larger than 3 cm (p = 0.003).
We demonstrated for the first time that immune expression of E-cadherin is related to tumor recurrence and disease-free survival rates, and the absence of Α-catenin expression is related to tumor size in upper tract urothelial carcinomas.
细胞黏附分子（CAM）对于维持正常的上皮表型是必需的，CAM 表达的异常与癌症的进展有关，包括膀胱尿路上皮癌。仅有一项研究将 E-钙黏蛋白和 Α-、Β-和 y-连环蛋白的表达与上尿路尿路上皮癌的预后相关联。我们的目的是研究这些 CAM 在接受手术治疗的肾盂和输尿管尿路上皮癌中的免疫表达模式。我们的目标是将这些表达水平和特征与疾病无复发生存的已知预后参数相关联。
我们评估了 20 例肾盂和输尿管尿路上皮癌患者的标本，这些患者在 1997 年 6 月至 2007 年 1 月期间接受了肾输尿管切除术或输尿管切除术。CAM 表达通过组织微阵列中的免疫组织化学进行评估，并与平均随访 55 个月后的组织病理学特征和患者结局相关联。
我们观察到 E-钙黏蛋白表达与疾病复发之间存在关系。在强 E-钙黏蛋白表达的患者中，87.5%的患者发生疾病复发。仅有 50.0%的中度表达患者和 0%的弱或无 E-钙黏蛋白表达患者发生疾病复发（p=0.014）。无复发生存率也存在差异。强 E-钙黏蛋白表达的患者平均无复发生存率为 49.1 个月，而中度表达的患者为 83.9 个月（p=0.011）。此外，Α-连环蛋白表达缺失与肿瘤大于 3cm 相关（p=0.003）。
我们首次证明，E-钙黏蛋白的免疫表达与肿瘤复发和无复发生存率相关，Α-连环蛋白表达缺失与上尿路尿路上皮癌的肿瘤大小相关。
