ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Adhesion molecules are important in the maintenance of normal epithelial structure, and altered expression of these molecules may be important in epithelial tumors, particularly in the processes of invasion and metastasis. METHODS: We have examined the expression of E-cadherin, cathepsin-D, CD44, CD44v6, nm23 and transforming growth factor-1 (TGF-1) proteins in the cervical squamous cell carcinoma to evaluate the prognostic significance of these molecules. RESULTS: Immunostain for E-cadherin was highly expressed in the majority of cases of cervical carcinomatous lesions (85.7-100%), but cathepsin-D was very low (7.1-32%). Immunostain for CD44 showed a lower expression in invasive carcinoma with and without metastasis (50.4 and 52.2%) than in carcinoma in situ (68.0%). CD44v6 protein showed some controversy of expression between invasive carcinoma with metastasis (35.7%) without metastasis (56.5%). Staining for nm23 was observed in the high expression of invasive lesions (85.7%). TGF-1 and C-erbB-2 protein were highly expressed, especially in the microinvasive carcinoma (81.8%, 42.8%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that CD44 and CD44v6 were not highly expressed in the invasive squamous carcinoma of the uterine cervix. However, it is notable that TGF-1 and c-erbB-2 in the microinvasive carcinoma and nm23 in invasive carcinoma were highly expressed compared to these of the other lesions of the uterine cervix.