Annals of Surgical Oncology Cite Track
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10.1245/s10434-007-9511-8
Annals of Surgical Oncology 14:3260-3267 (2007)
© 2007 Society of Surgical Oncology
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Original Article

Altered E-Cadherin Expression and p120 Catenin Localization in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Yvonne Chung, BSc1, Alfred K. Y. Lam, MBBS, FRCPA2, John M. Luk, Dr Med Sc1, Simon Law, MS, MA (Cantab), MBBChir, FRCSEd, FCSHK, FHKAM, FACS1, Kwok-Wah Chan, MBBS, FRCPath, FHKCPath, FHKAM (Pathology)3, Ping-Yin Lee, BSocSc, MMedSci1 and John Wong, PhD, FRACS, FACS1

1 Division of Esophageal Surgery, Department of Surgery, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong Medical Centre, Queen Mary Hospital, 102 Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China
2 Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia
3 Department of Pathology, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong, China

Correspondence: Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Simon Law, MS, MA (Cantab), MBBChir, FRCSEd, FCSHK, FHKAM, FACS; E-mail: slaw{at}hku.hk

Background: E-cadherin is a well-known tumor suppressor and its dysregulated expression correlates with tumor differentiation, metastasis and survival in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). p120 catenin is an Armadillo protein normally bound to E-cadherin in the cadherin–catenin complex at the adherens junction. Dysregulated expression and mislocalization of p120ctn affect the protective function of the complex. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the clinical significance of E-cadherin and p120ctn expression in ESCC.

Methods: Immunohistochemistry was performed to investigate the expression of E-cadherin and p120ctn proteins in 71 patients with ESCC. The relationships between protein expression and clinicopathological characteristics were analyzed.

Results: Reduced E-cadherin and p120ctn expressions were observed in 42.3%and 8.5%of ESCC cases, respectively. Reduction of membranous p120ctn was observed in 33.8%of cases. Membranous E-cadherin was preserved when p120ctn co-localized on the membrane of tumor cells (72.3%, P = 0.001). High level E-cadherin expression and membranous p120ctn preservation positively correlated with tumor differentiation (P = 0.001 and P = 0.008, respectively). p120ctn expression was also significantly related to lymph node metastasis (P = 0.003). Heterogeneous expression of both E-cadherin and p120ctn was observed in dysplasia.

Conclusions: Altered E-cadherin expression and p120ctn localization were related to tumor differentiation, indicating their important roles in the pathogenesis of ESCC.

Key Words: E-cadherin • Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) • Immunohistochemistry • p120 Catenin • Tumor differentiation






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