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Co-expression of E-cadherin and α-catenin molecules in colorectal cancer

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Abstract

Immunohistochemical staining for epithelial (E)-cadherin and α-catenin was performed using frozen sections taken from fresh operative specimens, by the avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex method. Tumors were classified into three types according to the expression modality. Cancer cells with expression at the cell-cell boundaries were defined as normal; when the expression was positive, but not concentrated at the cell-cell boundaries, they were defined as cytoplasmic; and when the tumor showed no staining, they were defined as lost. The relationship between these three expression types and the clinicopathological features of colorectal cancer was investigated. In all 50 normal mucosa samples, E-cadherin and α-catenin were coexpressed normally. The expression type of E-cadherin and α-catenin was normal in 11 and 13 of the cancer tissue specimens, respectively, cytoplasmic in 26 and 29, respectively, and lost in 13 and 8, respectively. Cytoplasmic or lost expression was observed in cancer demonstrating an advanced clinical stage (E-cadherin,P=0.0065; α-catenin,P=0.0069), advanced tumor penetration (P=0.0003,P=0.0001), undifferentiated tumor histology (P=0.0196,P=0.0343), widespread lymph node involvement (P=0.0204,P=0.0343), and liver metastasis (P=0.0063,P=0.0299). In conclusion, the expression type of E-cadherin is significantly correlated to that of α-catenin, and the loss of their expression indicates the metastatic potentiality of colorectal cancer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Yokkaichi Social Insurance Hospital, 10-8 Hazuyama, 510-0016, Yokkaichi, Japan

    Tatsushi Kitagawa & Koichi Matsumoto

  2. Department of Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University, Yoshida Konoe, Sakyo-ku, 606-8501, Kyoto, Japan

    Akira Nagafuchi & Shoichiro Tsukita

  3. Department of Surgery II, School of Medicine, Mie University, 2-174 Edobashi, 514-8507, Tsu, Japan

    Hiroshi Suzuki

Authors
  1. Tatsushi Kitagawa
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  2. Koichi Matsumoto
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  3. Akira Nagafuchi
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  4. Shoichiro Tsukita
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  5. Hiroshi Suzuki
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Kitagawa, T., Matsumoto, K., Nagafuchi, A. et al. Co-expression of E-cadherin and α-catenin molecules in colorectal cancer. Surg Today 29, 511–518 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02482345

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02482345

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