TY - JOUR
T1 - Loss of membranous E‐cadherin expression in pancreatic cancer
T2 - Correlation with lymph node metastasis, high grade, and advanced stage
AU - Pignatelli, Massimo
AU - Ansari, Tareq W.
AU - Gunter, Pat
AU - Liu, Dan
AU - Hirano, Shinji
AU - Takeichi, Masatoshi
AU - Klöppel, Günter
AU - Lemoine, Nicholas R.
PY - 1994/12
Y1 - 1994/12
N2 - Epithelial cadherin (E‐cadherin) is a Ca2+‐dependent cell‐cell adhesion molecule that connects cells via homotypic interactions. Its function is critical in the induction and maintenance of cell polarity and differentiation, and its loss of downregulation is associated with an invasive and poorly differentiated phenotype in colon and other tumours. We have used an avidin‐biotin immunoperoxidase technique to localize E‐cadherin in microwave‐treated, paraffin‐embedded sections from 36 patients with pancreatic adenocarcinomas. E‐cadherin was expressed by normal ductal and acinar cells with typical membranous staining at the intercellular junctions. Loss of normal surface E‐cadherin expression was found in 19/36 (53 per cent) tumours compared to the adjacent normal ductal cells. Abnormal E‐cadherin expression was found more frequently in poorly differentiated (grade III) (6/7, 86 per cent) than in well‐differentiated tumours (grade I) (4/14, 28 per cent) (P=0·012). Membranous E‐cadherin expression was also lost more frequently in primary tumours with lymph node (stage III) (14/23, 61 per cent) and distant metastasis (stage IV) (2/2, 100 per cent) compared with 3/11 (27 per cent) lymph node‐negative tumours (stage I) (P=0·043). In conclusions, our data indicate that loss of membranous E‐cadherin expression is associated with high grade and advanced stage in pancreatic cancer.
AB - Epithelial cadherin (E‐cadherin) is a Ca2+‐dependent cell‐cell adhesion molecule that connects cells via homotypic interactions. Its function is critical in the induction and maintenance of cell polarity and differentiation, and its loss of downregulation is associated with an invasive and poorly differentiated phenotype in colon and other tumours. We have used an avidin‐biotin immunoperoxidase technique to localize E‐cadherin in microwave‐treated, paraffin‐embedded sections from 36 patients with pancreatic adenocarcinomas. E‐cadherin was expressed by normal ductal and acinar cells with typical membranous staining at the intercellular junctions. Loss of normal surface E‐cadherin expression was found in 19/36 (53 per cent) tumours compared to the adjacent normal ductal cells. Abnormal E‐cadherin expression was found more frequently in poorly differentiated (grade III) (6/7, 86 per cent) than in well‐differentiated tumours (grade I) (4/14, 28 per cent) (P=0·012). Membranous E‐cadherin expression was also lost more frequently in primary tumours with lymph node (stage III) (14/23, 61 per cent) and distant metastasis (stage IV) (2/2, 100 per cent) compared with 3/11 (27 per cent) lymph node‐negative tumours (stage I) (P=0·043). In conclusions, our data indicate that loss of membranous E‐cadherin expression is associated with high grade and advanced stage in pancreatic cancer.
KW - E‐cadherin
KW - Pancreas
KW - adhesion
KW - differentiation
KW - invasion
KW - metastasis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0028691011&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0028691011&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/path.1711740403
DO - 10.1002/path.1711740403
M3 - Article
C2 - 7884585
AN - SCOPUS:0028691011
VL - 174
SP - 243
EP - 248
JO - Journal of Pathology
JF - Journal of Pathology
SN - 0022-3417
IS - 4
ER -