Relationship between expressions of E-cadherin and alpha-catenin and biological behaviors of human pancreatic cancer

摘要

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the expressions of E-eadherin and alpha-catenin in pancreatic carcinomaand their relationship with biological behaviors, and clarify the mechanism of invasion and metastasis ofpancreatic cancer.METHODS: The expressions of E-eadherin and alpha-catenin was examined in 47 patients withinfiltrative ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas and 12 specimens of normal pancreatic tissues byimmunohistochemical technique (PicTureTM two-step method). Proliferation cell nuclear antigen（PCNA） was tested as an index of the proliferation degree of pancreatic cancer cells.RESULTS: The immunoreactivity of E-cadherin and alpha-catenin was expressed by normal ductal andacinar cells with strong membranous staining at the intercellular border in 12 specimens of normalpancreatic tissues. The abnormal rate of E-cadherin expression in pancreatic cancer was 53.2% （25/47）,and it was significantly related to differentiation, high proliferation degree and lymph node and livermetastases （P0.O1, 0.05, 0.05 and O.01, respectively）. 61.7% patients with pancreatic cancer（29/47） showed abnormal expression of alpha-catenin. There was a good correlation amongalpha-catenin expression, histological grade, and lymph node and liver metastases （P0.05, 0.05 and0.01, respectively）. No significant association was found among abnormal expressions of E-cadherin andalpha-catenin, tumor size, invasion, and 1-year survival rate of patients （ P0.05, all）. There was apositive relationship between the expressions of E-cadherin and alpha-catenin in the 47 patients withpancreatic cancer （PO.O1, r=0.88）.CONCLUSIONS: Pancreatic cancer likely occurs in case of the inactivation of E-cadherin andalpha-catenin genes and abnormal expression of proteins, which significantly correlate with tumorigenesis,proliferation, differentiation, and lymph node or liver metastasis of pancreatic cancer.