ABSTRACT
<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>E-cadherin is a subclass of the cadherin family that plays an important role in the maintenance of intercellular junctions in normal epithelium.Decreased expression of E-cadherin might be closely related to invasiveness and dedifferentiation in human cancers.There is increasing evidence that modulation of the E-cadherin-catenin cell-cell adhesion complex is an important step in the initiation and progression of human cancers.The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the level of E-cadherin mRNA expression and pathological grades and clinical stages of non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>RT-PCR was used to measure the level of E-cadherin mRNA expression in 53 specimens of NSCLC,46 of para-cancer lung tissues,5 of benign nodal lung diseases,and the stages of disease was determined according to the results of surgery,pathology and imaging diagnoses.Then analyses were carried out between the level of E-cadherin mRNA expression and the clinical variables.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>45.3%(24/53) and 45.7%(21/46) specimens of NSCLC and para-cancer lung tissue were positive for E-cadherin mRNA expression respectively(P > 0.05);NSCLC with low differentiation,advanced stages and nodal metastases showed a magnificantly lower expression of E-cadherin mRNA(P < 0.05).The median survival time for E-cadherin mRNA positive and negative patients were 15.5 months and 46 months,respectively,but the expression of E-cadherin mRNA did not correlate with patient's survival(P > 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>E-cadherin expression is related to the differentiation,lymph node metastasis and pathological staging of NSCLC,but probably does not effectively affect its prognosis.</p>