Department of Surgery, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 1-7-1 Sakamoto-Machi, Nagasaki, 852-8501, Japan.
Department of Pathology, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2023 Jun 27;13(1):10434. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-37012-4.
Loss of E-cadherin expression is a poor prognostic factor in patients with breast cancer. Breast cancer cells co-cultured with adipocytes reportedly promote E-cadherin attenuation and tumor progression. The current study aimed to investigate the association of reduced E-cadherin expression with adipose tissue invasion (ATI) and prognosis in breast cancer. Surgical specimens were collected from 188 women with invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast who had undergone surgery without neoadjuvant treatment. We compared E-cadherin expression in ATI and invasive front (IF) using immunohistochemistry with ImageJ. Reduced E-cadherin expression was detected not only in the ATI area but also in the IF, and the degree of reduced E-cadherin expression was positively correlated with both areas. In patients with lymph node metastasis compared to those without, E-cadherin expression was reduced and this reduction was associated with poor recurrence-free survival. We concluded that E-cadherin expression is reduced not only at the ATI area but also at the IF of the tumor. Reduced E-cadherin expression is a clear prognostic factor for breast cancer. Hence, future research is warranted for establishing an objective and quantitative E-cadherin staining assay that will allow clinical use of E-cadherin as a prognostic factor.
E-钙黏蛋白表达缺失是乳腺癌患者预后不良的一个因素。有报道称，与脂肪细胞共培养的乳腺癌细胞可促进 E-钙黏蛋白衰减和肿瘤进展。本研究旨在探讨 E-钙黏蛋白表达缺失与乳腺癌脂肪组织浸润（ATI）和预后的关系。研究收集了 188 例接受无新辅助治疗手术的浸润性导管癌女性的手术标本。我们使用免疫组织化学和 ImageJ 比较了 ATI 和浸润前沿（IF）的 E-钙黏蛋白表达。不仅在 ATI 区域，而且在 IF 区域也检测到 E-钙黏蛋白表达缺失，E-钙黏蛋白表达缺失的程度与两个区域均呈正相关。与无淋巴结转移的患者相比，有淋巴结转移的患者 E-钙黏蛋白表达降低，这种降低与无复发生存率差相关。我们得出结论，E-钙黏蛋白不仅在 ATI 区域，而且在肿瘤 IF 中表达缺失。E-钙黏蛋白表达缺失是乳腺癌的明确预后因素。因此，有必要进行未来的研究，建立一种客观和定量的 E-钙黏蛋白染色检测方法，以便临床应用 E-钙黏蛋白作为预后因素。
