Level of expression of E-cadherin mRNA in colorectal cancer correlates with clinical outcome.

A series of colorectal carcinomas (n = 49) resected from patients with known clinical outcomes were analysed for E-cadherin expression using in situ hybridisation to measure mRNA. Patients surviving 5 years or longer (n = 31) exhibited significantly higher levels of E-cadherin mRNA than those surviving less than 5 years (n = 18, P = 0.003). These preliminary results from this small sample suggest that E-cadherin expression may be a useful prognostic marker in colorectal cancer patients.