Karayiannakis A J, Syrigos K N, Chatzigianni E, Papanikolaou S, Alexiou D, Kalahanis N, Rosenberg T, Bastounis E
First Department of Surgery, First IKA Hospital, Athens, Greece.
Anticancer Res. 1998 Nov-Dec;18(6A):4177-80.
E-cadherin is a cell-cell adhesion molecule involved in tumour invasion and metastasis. We evaluated E-cadherin expression immunohistochemically in 43 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded specimens of pancreatic cancer and investigated its relationship to histopathological features. In non-cancerous pancreatic cells E-cadherin immunoreactivity was localized at the cell membrane, particularly at the intercellular junctions. Abnormal E-cadherin expression was found in 18 (42%) cases. A significantly higher proportion of poorly-differentiated tumours (71%) showed abnormal E-cadherin expression compared with moderately (50%) and well (19%) differentiated tumours (P = 0.037). There was a significant correlation between abnormal E-cadherin expression and lymph node involvement (P = 0.013), the presence of distant metastases (P = 0.034) and advanced tumour stage (P = 0.025). These findings suggest that loss of normal E-cadherin expression is involved in the progression of pancreatic cancer.
E-钙黏蛋白是一种参与肿瘤侵袭和转移的细胞间黏附分子。我们采用免疫组织化学方法评估了43例福尔马林固定、石蜡包埋的胰腺癌标本中E-钙黏蛋白的表达情况，并研究了其与组织病理学特征的关系。在非癌性胰腺细胞中，E-钙黏蛋白免疫反应定位于细胞膜，尤其是细胞间连接处。18例（42%）病例中发现E-钙黏蛋白表达异常。与中分化（50%）和高分化（19%）肿瘤相比，低分化肿瘤中E-钙黏蛋白表达异常的比例显著更高（71%）（P = 0.037）。E-钙黏蛋白表达异常与淋巴结受累（P = 0.013）、远处转移的存在（P = 0.034）及肿瘤晚期（P = 0.025）之间存在显著相关性。这些发现表明，正常E-钙黏蛋白表达的缺失参与了胰腺癌的进展。
