Expression of E-cadherin and P120ctn in nasopharyngeal carcinoma and theirrelationship / 临床耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To study the expression of E-cadherin and P120ctn in nasopharyngeal carcinoma tissues, and to investigate their relationship and the relation with clinico-pathological features. Methods Two-step immuno-histochemical staining was applied to detect the expression of E-cadherin and P120ctn in formalin fixation and paraffin-embedded specimens from 56 cases with nasopharyngeal carcinoma and 15 cases with normal nasopharyngeal epithelia. Result:The abnormal expression rates of E-cadherin and P120ctn in the 56 cases of NPC tissues were 64.29% and 67.86% respectively, mainly with reduction of expression membrane and with the expression of cytoplasm; 6.67% of the 15 comparative normal cases of nasopharyngitis had abnormal expression of E-cadherin and P120ctn The differences were statistically significant. The abnormal expression rates of E-cadherin and P120ctn in NPC tissues were 71.43% and 85.71% respectively in low differentiated cancer group, which was obviously higher than the rates-42.86% and 36.29%-in high and middle differentiated cancer group. The 80.00% and 85.00% abnormal expression rate in the group with cervical lymph node metastases was higher than that in the group without cervical lymph node metastases(52.78%, 58.33%). The abnormal expression rate of E-cadherin and P120ctn(76. 92%,84.62%) in the third and forth phases was higher than that in the first and second phases (46.66%, 53. 33%). The differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). There were all together 12 co-expression cases of P120ctn and E-cadherin and 28 abnormal co-expression cases in the 56 cases of NPC tissues, which was of obvious consistency and correlation, with the relevant indexes rs=0.5217 and P<0.01. Conclusion: The abnormal expression of E-cadherin and P120ctn is closely related to the degree of differentiation, clinical stage and cervical lymph node metastasis, and they join in the process of NPC initiation, progression, invasion and metastasis.