Expression of E-Cadherin in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma is Associated with Clinical Prognosis

摘要

OBJECTIVE To investigate the correlation of E-cadherin expression with clinicopathological parameters and prognosis of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma. METHODS We examined the expression of the protein E-cadherin in 43 oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) surgical speciments by SABC immunohistochemistry. RESULTS There was a significant correlation between the level of E-cadherin expression and tumor stage (P = 0.024), invasive pattern (P = 0.009) and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.023). No relation was found with age (P = 0.084), sex (P = 1.356) and differentiation (P = 0.877). Using the Kaplan-Meier method we demonstrated that those cases which showed E-cadherin expression (-) or (+) had a significantly poorer prognosis compared those cases which showed expression (++) or (+++) (P = 0.0146). CONCLUSION E -cadherin, is an important indicator of clinical diagnoses and prognositic marker for oral SCC patients.