Palacios J, Benito N, Pizarro A, Suárez A, Espada J, Cano A, Gamallo C
Department of Pathology, La Paz Hospital, Madrid, Spain.
Am J Pathol. 1995 Mar;146(3):605-12.
Previous studies on the cell-cell adhesion molecules P- and E-cadherin have shown that P-cadherin is not expressed in breast cancer. In contrast, the expression of E-cadherin is a normal event in these tumors, but a reduction in the levels of this molecule in neoplastic cells is associated with the histological type, high histological grade, greater tumor size, and metastasis. The expression pattern of P- and E-cadherin were immunohistochemically studied in tissue sections from normal breast tissue, benign breast lesions, and 57 infiltrating breast carcinomas. Cadherin expression was analyzed in parallel with pathological features and the immunohistochemical expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors in breast carcinomas. P-cadherin was detected in the myoepithelial cells and E-cadherin in luminal epithelial cells from normal breast and benign breast lesions. P-cadherin expression was detected in 9 of 45 cases (20%) of infiltrating ductal carcinomas of no special type; none of the special histological types that were analyzed (7 infiltrating lobular carcinomas, 3 colloid carcinomas, and 2 infiltrating papillary carcinomas) expressed P-cadherin. In infiltrating ductal carcinomas, P-cadherin expression correlated significantly with a reduction in E-cadherin expression, histological grade (all cases were grade III tumors), and hormone receptor content (8 of 9 cases were estrogen and progesterone receptor negative). Although E-cadherin was not found in the 7 infiltrating lobular carcinomas, it was present in the remaining histological types and was preserved in 15 infiltrating ductal and 3 colloid and 2 papillary carcinomas and was reduced in 30 infiltrating ductal carcinomas. In addition, a reduction in E-cadherin expression was significantly associated with high histological grade and a lack of steroid hormone receptors in infiltrating ductal carcinomas. No apparent relationship was found between P- and E-cadherin expression and tumor size and axillary lymph node metastasis. The distinct patterns of P- and E-cadherin expression observed in this study strongly suggest a differential role for these cadherins in human breast carcinogenesis.
先前关于细胞间粘附分子P-钙粘蛋白和E-钙粘蛋白的研究表明，P-钙粘蛋白在乳腺癌中不表达。相反，E-钙粘蛋白的表达在这些肿瘤中是正常现象，但肿瘤细胞中该分子水平的降低与组织学类型、高组织学分级、更大的肿瘤大小和转移相关。采用免疫组织化学方法研究了正常乳腺组织、乳腺良性病变及57例浸润性乳腺癌组织切片中P-钙粘蛋白和E-钙粘蛋白的表达模式。同时分析了钙粘蛋白表达与病理特征以及乳腺癌中雌激素和孕激素受体的免疫组化表达情况。在正常乳腺和乳腺良性病变中，肌上皮细胞中检测到P-钙粘蛋白，管腔上皮细胞中检测到E-钙粘蛋白。在45例非特殊类型的浸润性导管癌中，有9例（20%）检测到P-钙粘蛋白表达；所分析的特殊组织学类型（7例浸润性小叶癌、3例黏液癌和2例浸润性乳头状癌）均未表达P-钙粘蛋白。在浸润性导管癌中，P-钙粘蛋白表达与E-钙粘蛋白表达降低、组织学分级（所有病例均为III级肿瘤）以及激素受体含量显著相关（9例中有8例雌激素和孕激素受体阴性）。虽然在7例浸润性小叶癌中未发现E-钙粘蛋白，但在其余组织学类型中存在，在15例浸润性导管癌、3例黏液癌和2例乳头状癌中得以保留，在30例浸润性导管癌中降低。此外，浸润性导管癌中E-钙粘蛋白表达降低与高组织学分级和缺乏类固醇激素受体显著相关。未发现P-钙粘蛋白和E-钙粘蛋白表达与肿瘤大小及腋窝淋巴结转移之间存在明显关系。本研究中观察到的P-钙粘蛋白和E-钙粘蛋白的不同表达模式强烈提示这些钙粘蛋白在人类乳腺癌发生中具有不同作用。
