The Expression And Signficance Of E-cadherin And β-catenin In Barrett's Esophagus And Esophageal Adenocarcinoma.

OBJECTIVE:The expression of E-cadherin andβ-catenin in Barrett's esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma was studied to investigate their role in the development of Barrett's Esophagus(BE) and Esophageal Adenocarcinoma(EAC),and to uncover their correlations with clinicopathologic properties as well as with prognosis of the EAC patients.METHODS:In esophageal squamous epithelium (n=20),BE (n=40) and EAC (n=51)tissues,the expression of E-cadherin andβ-catenin was respectively detected by immunohistochemical staining.Furthermore the EAC patients were followed-up postoperatively for the survival situation,and expression of the proteins was evaluated with respect to clinicopathological properties and patients'survival.RESULTS:1.In normal squamous oesophageal epithelium, E-cadherin andβ-catenin showed intense immunoreactivity at the cell membrane.They retained polarity at the membranes of the cells in Barrett's epithelium,butβ-catenin was not seen in the plasma and nuclei.There was weak or absent staining of the two proteins in most of adenocarcinoma tissues.2.The level of E-cadherin andβ-catenin expression in EAC was significantly lower than those in esophageal squamous epithelium and Barrett's epithelium(P<0.016),while the reduction of their expression in these two groups was not significant.3.Expression of E-cadherin correlated significantly with grade, invasive depth and metastasis of the EAC(P<0.05),while the abnormal expression ofβ-catenin correlated with lower grade (P=0.030<0.05).The abnormality rates of both proteins increased with clinical staging(χ2E= 7.692,P=0.011;χ2β=7.306,P=0.014).4.Abnormal expression of the two proteins correlated with shorter patient survival.Patients with the abnormal expression of E-cadherin andβ-catenin underwent significantly higher mortality risk(PE= 0.01,Pβ=0.00),however,neither of them could be used as significant prognostic fcators for EAC patients.The multivariate analysis demonstrated that the degree of tumor differentiation(Hazard Ratio =1.912,P=0.034),depth of invasion(Hazard Ratio=1.322,P=0.039) and clinical stages(Hazard Ratio=1.661,P=0.012) were independent prognostic factors.CONCLUSlON:The expression of E-cadherin andβ-catenin reduces during the developlement of adenocarcinoma,which may be of much consequence to promote the carcinogensis of EAC.Abnormal expression of E-cadherin andβ-catenin could be valuable indicators for predicting invasion and metastasis of EAC,and important for prognosis of patients.