Expression Of E-Cadherin And VEGF In Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma And Their Correlation

Objective:To investigate the expression of E-cadherin and VEGF and their relationship to invasion, metastasis and prognosis of the esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.Methods:From 1998 to 2001, 40 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma from Shandong Provincial Hospital, China, were initially regarded as potential candidates for our study. Expressions of E-cadherin and VEGF in these specimens and 40 normal esophageal epithelial tissues were detected by S-P immunohistochemistry, and their correlation with characteristics of clinical materials were evaluated.Results:1. Positive rate of E-cadherin in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma was 27.5%, which is lower than the normal group, the difference was significant (P<0.05). There had no significantly correlation between the E-cadherin positive expression and the sex, age, clinicopathologic classification, size of tumor in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. The low expression of E-cadherin was correlated with cancer invasive depth, lymph node metastasis and clinical stage. E-cadherin positive expression is associated with good prognosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.2. Positive rate of VEGF in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma was 78.0%, which is higher than the normal group, the difference was significant (P<0.05). There had no significantly correlation between the VEGF positive expression and the sex, age, clinicopathologic classification, size of tumor in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. The high expression of VEGF was correlated with cancer invasive depth, lymph node metastasis and clinical stage. VEGF positive expression is associated with poor prognosis of esophageal squamous dell carcinoma.3.The expression of E-cadherin was negatively correlated with the expression of VEGF (r_s= -0.4460, P<0.05).Conclusions:The expression of E-cadherin and VEGF correlated with the biological behavior of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, Examination of E-cadherin and VEGF in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma helped to evaluate its intensity of lympha node metastasis and prognosis.