Hirvikoski P, Kumpulainen E J, Virtaniemi J A, Helin H J, Rantala I, Johansson R T, Juhola M, Kosma V M
Department of Oncology, Kuopio University Hospital, Finland.
Int J Cancer. 1998 Oct 23;79(5):546-50. doi: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0215(19981023)79:5<546::aid-ijc18>3.0.co;2-#.
Aberrations in the function of alpha-catenin (alpha-cat), the anchoring protein of E-cadherin, are believed to cause dysfunction of the cadherin-catenin complex, leading to disturbed cell-cell adhesion. It has been suggested that expression of alpha-cat in human tumours might be a better indicator of aggressive phenotype than expression of E-cadherin. The value of alpha-cat as a prognostic marker in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) is unclear. To determine the potential prognostic significance of alpha-cat, paraffin-embedded samples from 159 patients with invasive carcinoma left in the section and with long-term follow-up were evaluated immuno-histochemically for alpha-cat expression, and the results were related to histopathological grade, tumour stage and survival. Two patterns of staining were observed: pure membranous staining (57%) and membranous staining with cytoplasmic involvement (43%). Cytoplasmic involvement of alpha-cat was associated with dedifferentiation, advanced tumour stage and nodal status. In addition, supra-glottic tumours showed more often cytoplasmic involvement of alpha-cat than glottic tumours. Patients with cytoplasmic involvement appeared to have a trend towards poor overall survival, though without statistical significance. These results suggest that cytoplasmic involvement of alpha-cat is associated with aggressive behaviour and metastatic phenotype of LSCC.
α-连环蛋白（α-cat）作为E-钙黏蛋白的锚定蛋白，其功能异常被认为会导致钙黏蛋白-连环蛋白复合体功能障碍，进而引起细胞间黏附紊乱。有人提出，在人类肿瘤中，α-cat的表达可能比E-钙黏蛋白的表达更能体现侵袭性表型。α-cat作为喉鳞状细胞癌（LSCC）预后标志物的价值尚不清楚。为了确定α-cat的潜在预后意义，对159例侵袭性癌患者留存切片并进行长期随访的石蜡包埋样本进行免疫组织化学评估，以检测α-cat的表达情况，并将结果与组织病理学分级、肿瘤分期和生存率相关联。观察到两种染色模式：单纯膜染色（57%）和伴有胞质累及的膜染色（43%）。α-cat的胞质累及与去分化、肿瘤晚期和淋巴结状态相关。此外，声门上区肿瘤比声门区肿瘤更常出现α-cat的胞质累及。尽管无统计学意义，但有胞质累及的患者总体生存率似乎有降低趋势。这些结果表明，α-cat的胞质累及与LSCC的侵袭性行为和转移表型相关。
