Ben Rejeb Sarra, Labadi Abir, Lakhal Marwa, Bellil Khadija, Chouchen Adnen
Pathology department, Security Forces Hospital, Marsa, Tunisia.
Research Unity UR17ES17 on Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition, Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, Tunis, Tunisia.
J Immunoassay Immunochem. 2025;46(4):317-330. doi: 10.1080/15321819.2025.2505033. Epub 2025 May 14.
Gastric cancer (GC) is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Dysregulation of molecular pathways, including β-Catenin-mediated Wnt signaling, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and E-Cadherin-modulated cell adhesion, plays critical roles in gastric carcinogenesis. This study assesses the expression patterns of β-Catenin and E-Cadherin in GC and explores their prognostic significance.
This retrospective, multi-center study analyzed GC cases diagnosed between 2009 and 2019 at the pathology departments of Security Forces and Rabta Hospitals. Tissue microarray (TMA) paraffin blocks from 48 GC cases were immunohistochemically stained using antibodies for β-Catenin (Leica, 17C2) and E-Cadherin (Leica, 36B5). β-Catenin expression was scored as membranous, cytoplasmic, or nuclear, with overexpression defined as ≥ 50% positive cells. E-Cadherin staining was categorized from absent (score 0) to marked membranous staining (score 3), with scores 0-2 considered aberrant. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 23.
Of the 48 cases, β-Catenin overexpression was observed in 50% of cases, significantly associated with tumor differentiation ( = 0.033), age > 60 years ( = 0.042), and male sex ( = 0.028). Aberrant E-Cadherin expression was found in 65% of cases, linked to poorly cohesive and diffuse subtypes ( = 0.053), poor differentiation ( = 0.042), and recurrence ( = 0.043), with a trend toward reduced survival ( = 0.056).
β-Catenin overexpression and aberrant E-Cadherin expression are frequent in GC, reflecting their roles in tumor progression via Wnt signaling and EMT. These findings highlight their potential as prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets, particularly for Wnt pathway-directed therapies in personalized GC management.
胃癌（GC）是全球癌症相关死亡的主要原因。包括β-连环蛋白介导的Wnt信号传导、上皮-间质转化（EMT）和E-钙黏蛋白调节的细胞黏附在内的分子途径失调在胃癌发生中起关键作用。本研究评估了β-连环蛋白和E-钙黏蛋白在胃癌中的表达模式，并探讨了它们的预后意义。
这项回顾性多中心研究分析了2009年至2019年期间在安全部队医院和拉卜塔医院病理科诊断的胃癌病例。使用针对β-连环蛋白（徕卡，17C2）和E-钙黏蛋白（徕卡，36B5）的抗体对48例胃癌病例的组织微阵列（TMA）石蜡块进行免疫组织化学染色。β-连环蛋白表达分为膜性、胞质或核性，过表达定义为≥50%阳性细胞。E-钙黏蛋白染色从无（评分为0）到明显的膜性染色（评分为3）进行分类，评分为0-2被认为是异常的。使用SPSS 23版进行统计分析。
在48例病例中，50%的病例观察到β-连环蛋白过表达，与肿瘤分化（=0.033）、年龄>60岁（=0.042）和男性（=0.028）显著相关。65%的病例发现E-钙黏蛋白表达异常，与低黏附性和弥漫性亚型（=0.053）、低分化（=0.042）和复发（=0.043）有关，有生存率降低的趋势（=0.056）。
β-连环蛋白过表达和E-钙黏蛋白表达异常在胃癌中很常见，反映了它们通过Wnt信号传导和EMT在肿瘤进展中的作用。这些发现突出了它们作为预后生物标志物和治疗靶点的潜力，特别是在个性化胃癌管理中针对Wnt途径的治疗。
