Research Of The Relevance Between E-cadherin And ?-catenin Expressions And The Prognosis Of NSCLC

Background and Objective:In recent years,incidence and mortality of lung cancer have increased year after year,in all types of lung cancer,Non-small-cell lung cancer(NSCLC)accounts for nearly 85%.While the decrease,missing or abnormal expressions of E-cadherin and ?-catenin play an important role in tumor progression and metastasis,and indicate poor prognosis.The purpose of this study is to investigate the expressions of E-cadherin and ?-catenin in NSCLC patients who received radical surgery and the significance of the proteins as independent prognostic indicators.Materials and Methods:Collected the tumor tissues of 53 patients with NSCLC and 17 adjacent tumor tissues among these patients who were treated with radical surgery at Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University from January 1,2008 to September 31,2013.These patients were diagnosed NSCLC by Department of Pathology,and received three or more than three cycles of platinum-containing two-drug chemotherapy in Thoracic Surgery or Department of Oncology of our hospital.Detected the 53 tumor tissues and the 17 adjacent tumor tissues with immunohistochemistry,while collected the clinical and pathological data and followed up by telephone,recorded the date of recurrence.The chi-square test was used to analyze the relationships between the expressions of E-cadherin,?-catenin and the clinical characteristics of these patients;Log-rank test was used to analyze the relationships among the expressions of the proteins,clinical and pathological features and disease-free survival(DFS);the Kaplan-Meier method and the COX regression model were used to analyze the prognostic factors of NSCLC.Results: 1.E-cadherin and ?-catenin expressions in NSCLC tissues and normal adjacent tissuesThe abnormal expression rates of E-cadherin and ?-catenin in NSCLC tissues were 47%(25/53)and 49%(26/53),while in normal adjacent tissues were respectively 18 %(3/17)and 18%(3/17),the abnormal expression rates of E-cadherin and ?-catenin in NSCLC tissues were higher than the normal adjacent tissues(P = 0.031,P = 0.022).2.The relationships among E-cadherin,?-catenin expressions and the clinical and pathological features of the patientsE-cadherin and ?-catenin levels and the degree of differentiation in patients showed significant correlation(P=0.003,P=0.001),poorly differentiated NSCLC patients showed higher abnormal expression rates,?-catenin level was related to patients' TNM stage(P = 0.04),abnormal expression rate of ?-catenin in stage ?A patients was significantly higher than patients of stage?B and?.E-cadherin and ?-catenin levels showed no significant correlation with gender,age,pathological type and lymph node metastasis(P> 0.05).3.The correlations of E-cadherin and ?-catenin levels in NSCLC patientsExpressions of E-cadherin and ?-catenin in NSCLC patients were positively correlated,and the correlation was statistically significant(P = 0.008,r = 0.358).4.Survival analysisPatients in the normal expression group had significantly longer DFS than patients in the abnormal expression group((P=0.011,P=0.007),it indicated that expressions of E-cadherin and ?-catenin were related to patients' prognosis.Patients with both E-cadherin and ?-catenin normally expressed had longer DFS than patients with abnormal expressions of the two proteins at the same time(P <0.001).NSCLC patients with no smoking history,higher tumor differentiation,earlier TNM stage(stage ?B and?)and no lymph node metastasis had better prognosis(P <0.05),while gender,age,pathological type showed no significant correlation with prognosis(P> 0.05).Three kinds of chemotherapy(GP,NP,TP or DP)had little to do with prognosis(P = 0.758).COX regression model showed that ?-catenin level and TNM stage were closely associated with DFS(P = 0.045,P = 0.002),it indicated that in patients with NSCLC who received radical surgery,the level of ?-catenin and the TNM stage were important and independent prognostic factors.Conclusion:In NSCLC patients who received radical surgery,E-cadherin and ?-catenin expression levels are related to tumor differentiation,abnormal expressions of E-cadherin and ?-catenin indicate worse differentiation and higher degree of malignancy.Patients with abnormal expressions of E-cadherin and ?-catenin have a significantly shortened DFS,which indicate poor prognosis.Therefore,detecting the expression levels of E-cadherin and ?-catenin has an important guiding significance for prognosis judgment and postoperative treatment..