Expression of E-cadherin in nasopharyngeal carcinoma and its relationship with cervical lymph node metastasis / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the expression of E-cadherin in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and its relationship with cervical lymph node metastasis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The expression of E-cadherin in 80 patients with NPC was detected by immunohistochemistry.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Lower expression of E-cadherin was associated with advanced N-stage of the tumor (P = 0.018). There was no significant correlation between the expression of E-cadherin and lymph node size (P = 0.435). The expression of E-cadherin was higher in patients with cervical lymph node metastasis limited to a single area than that distributing in some scattered areas (P = 0.000). There was a trend that the expression of E-cadherin in the cases with the tumor and lymph nodes in the same side was higher (56.5%) than that in the patients with bilateral lymph node metastases (32.6%), however, the difference was not significant (P = 0.059). The expression rates of E-cadherin in patients with lymph node metastasis in levels II, III and Va were higher than that in levels I, IV, Vb and VI, but with a non-significant difference (P = 0.059).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The expression of E-cadherin has influence on the lymph node metastasis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. E-cadherin expression is negatively correlated with the numbers of the lymph node metastases and the metastasis distance, i.e. a lower expression of E-cadherin leads to an advanced N-stage. The lymph node metastasis of nasopharyngeal cancer from above to below is more considerably influenced by E-cadherin expression than the metastasis towards contralateral lymph nodes.</p>

Association of single nucleotide polymorphism of MnSOD gene with carcinogenesis and development of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the association of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) gene with carcinogenesis and progression of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The MnSOD9 T-->C SNP was genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis in 103 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and 195 healthy controls.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A significant difference was observed in the MnSOD allelotype distribution among esophageal squamous cell carcinomas and healthy controls (chi(2) = 4.645, P < 0.05). Individuals with the 9 C allele had a significantly higher risk to develop esophageal squamous cell carcinoma compared with those with the TT allele. The frequency of C allelotype among patients with lesions of different lengths (</= 5 cm and > 5 cm) was 16.3% and 36.7%, respectively. A significant difference was observed in the MnSOD allelotype distribution between patients with lesions of different lengths (chi(2) = 5.147, P < 0.05). No significant association of the MnSOD polymorphism at 9 T-->C with the tumor site, maximal length and clinical staging was found in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of MnSOD gene may be correlated with the susceptibility and disease progression of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and may become a tumor marker for prediction of this cancer.</p>