E-钙粘蛋白与α-连结蛋白在结直肠癌的表达及意义

Expressions of E-cadherin andα-catenin in Patients with Colorectal Carcinoma and their Clinical Significances

目的:探讨E-钙粘蛋白和α-连结蛋白的表达与结直肠癌生物学行为的关系?方法:应用免疫组织化学法检测E-钙粘蛋白和α-连结蛋白在67例结直肠癌组织中的表达?结果:67例结直肠癌标本中19例E-钙粘蛋白表达降低,降低率为28%(19/67),其与肿瘤浸润及转移无显著相关性?67例结直肠癌标本中37例α-连结蛋白表达降低,降低率为55%(37/67),其与肿瘤浸润深度和淋巴结及肝脏的转移有显著相关性?结论:尽管本研究仅显示α-连结蛋白表达的减弱与肿瘤的浸润和转移有关,但由于这些蛋白质的表达水平是相互关联的,因此研究结直肠腺癌的浸润和转移,E-钙粘蛋白及α-连结蛋白的表达都是有意义的?

Background/Aims: To investigate the relationship between the expression of E-cadherin and α- catenin and their biological behavior of colorectal cancer. Methods: The expressions of E-cadherin and α-catenin were examined in 67 cases of colorectal cancer by immuohistochemistry. Results: Re- duced expression of α-catenin was observed in 37(55%) cases and found to be significantly correlated with the depth of invasion of the colorectal cancer and its metastasis to lymph nodes and liver. In con- trast, E-cadherin expression was reduced in 19(28o/o) cases and was not significantly correlated either with depth of invasion or metastasis. Conclusions: Although the levels of expression of these proteins were positively correlated, coexpression pattern analysis showed that invasion and metastasis were correlated with a reduction of α-catenin expression regardless of the status of E-cadherin staining. Thus it is useful to investigate not just the expression of E-cadherin, but also the expression of α-cate- nin for prediction of tumor invasion and metastasis in colorectal adenocarcinoma.