Study of the Relation between Rreduced E-cadherin Expression and Known Prognostic Factors in Breast Cancer

ABSTRACT

Breast Cancer in women poses a problem, and it can be difficult at times to evaluate the possibility of the cancer's recurrence in node negative early cancer. Reliable prognostic markers are needed in breast-cancer management to help clinicians identify patient with high risk of recurrence and arrive at more rational decisions for proper treatment. E-cadherin is a glycoprotein that mediates Ca2 -dependent cell-cell adhesion and maintenance of the epithelial cell phenotype. It has been implicated as an invasion-suppressing protein in experimental systems and in human tumors, and alterations in the cadherin function have been implicated in tumor progression in a number of adenocarcinomas. In this study, the expression of E-cadherin was reduced in 35.3% of the case reviewed(12/34), and we could find no clinical relation between the known prognostic factors except tumor stage(p<0.05), and the degree of E-cadherin expression.