Xiangming C, Hokita S, Nuruki K, Toyoyama H, Tanabe G, Baba M, Takao S, Aikou T
Department of Surgery, First Teaching Hospital, Xian Medical University, Shaanxi, PR China.
Surg Today. 1998;28(6):587-94. doi: 10.1007/s005950050189.
Although impaired expression of E-cadherin (E-cad) is frequently observed in tumors with aggressive histopathologic characteristics, the correlation between alpha-catenin (alpha-cat) expression and the clinicopathologic features of early gastric cancer have not been fully examined. In this study, we evaluated the expression of E-cad and alpha-cat by early gastric carcinomas, and examined the relationships between this expression and various clinicopathologic characteristics. A total of 69 specimens obtained from surgery were studied by immunohistochemistry. Reduced expression of E-cad and alpha-cat were found in 53.6% and 65.2% of the tumors, respectively, and a significant correlation was observed between the decreased expression of E-cad or alpha-cat and tumor histology, the quantity of stroma, and the infiltration pattern of the tumor. The reduced expression of alpha-cat correlated more strongly with these features than E-cadherin expression. Furthermore, alpha-cat expression was also related to the lymph node metastasis of tumors. The expression of E-cad or alpha-cat in the primary tumor was consistent with the expression of tumor cells that invaded the lymphatic vessels, but discordant with staining in the metastasized lymph nodes. In some cases, as the tumor invaded deeper, the expression of E-cad or alpha-cat changed from preserved to reduced. Our observations suggest that the reduced expression of E-cad or alpha-cat may be involved in the initial steps leading to the invasion and metastasis of early gastric cancer.
虽然在具有侵袭性组织病理学特征的肿瘤中经常观察到E-钙黏蛋白（E-cad）表达受损，但α-连环蛋白（α-cat）表达与早期胃癌临床病理特征之间的相关性尚未得到充分研究。在本研究中，我们评估了早期胃癌中E-cad和α-cat的表达，并研究了这种表达与各种临床病理特征之间的关系。通过免疫组织化学对手术获取的69个标本进行了研究。分别在53.6%和65.2%的肿瘤中发现E-cad和α-cat表达降低，并且观察到E-cad或α-cat表达降低与肿瘤组织学、间质数量和肿瘤浸润模式之间存在显著相关性。α-cat表达降低与这些特征的相关性比E-钙黏蛋白表达更强。此外，α-cat表达还与肿瘤的淋巴结转移有关。原发性肿瘤中E-cad或α-cat的表达与侵入淋巴管的肿瘤细胞表达一致，但与转移淋巴结中的染色不一致。在某些情况下，随着肿瘤浸润加深，E-cad或α-cat的表达从保留变为降低。我们的观察结果表明，E-cad或α-cat表达降低可能参与了早期胃癌侵袭和转移的起始步骤。
