Expression And Significance Of Ezrin And E-cadherin In Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer

[Background and Objective] Of the various malignant tumors, lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death worldwide. Metastasis is the major cause of ineffective therapy. Some recent papers provide strong evidence that the membrane: cytoskeleton organizer Ezrin promotes tumor metastasis. Current studies suppose that Ezrin and E-cadherin play important roles in the regional invasion and distant metastasis of many malignant tumors. With tissue microarray technique and immunohistochemical staining method we detecte the expression of Ezrin and E-cadherin in NSCLC tissues and their metastatic lymph nodes, and then evaluate the relationships with metastasis, histological type, grading, TNM staging and prognosis.[Materials and Methods] 287 cases of NSCLC and 120 cases of metastatic carcinoma of lymph nodes were selected from the files of Department of Pathology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University from 1998 to 2001. 25 cases of benign pulmonary tissues were evaluated in this study. Immunohistochemical staining was detected by LsAB method. The following immunostainings were performed on tissue microarray sections: monoclonal Ezrin and E-cadherin. All patients were followed up. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 12.00 software.[Results] In the 25 cases of bronchial epithelium of benign pulmonary tissues, the positive signals of Ezrin located in the apical cell membranes and the positive signals of E-cadherin located in the cell membranes. The overexpression rates of Ezrin in 287 cases of primary NSCLC tissues and in 120 cases of metastatic carcinoma of lymph nodes were 57.8% and 83.3%(P=0.000) . The abnormal expression rates of E-cadherin in 287 cases of primary NSCLC tissues and in 120 cases of metastatic carcinoma of lymph nodes were 82.6% and 98.3% (P=0.000) . The overexpression rate of Ezrin was correlative with grading (P=0.005) , primary carcinoma with metastatic carcinoma in NSCLC (P=0.032) . The abnormal expression rate of E-cadherin was correlative with grading ( P=0.024) , primary carcinoma with metastatic carcinoma (P=0.015) , TNM staging in NSCLC (P=0.037) . The Spearman correlation analysis suggested that the expression of Ezrin and E-cadherin was negative correlation (P=0.029). The survival analysis indicated that sex, histologic type, grading, metastases, TNM staging in NSCLC, the overexpression of Ezrin and the abnormal expression of E-cadherin were associated with survival rate of post-operation in NSCLC (P<0.05). Grading , metastases, TNM staging, the overexpression of Ezrin and the abnormal expression of E-cadherin may be prognostic factors in NSCLC by Cox regression (P<0.05).[Conclusion] (1)In NSCLC, the overexpression of Ezrin and the abnormal expression of E-cadherin were correlative with primary carcinoma with metastatic carcinoma. The expressions of Ezrin and E-cadherin in primary NSCLC tissues and in metastatic carcinoma of lymph nodes were different. All of these suggested that the overexpression of Ezrin and the abnormal expression of E-cadherin may promote tumor metastasis. The investigation of Ezrin and E-cadherin may be useful for offering one method to prevent tumor from metastasizing. (2) In NSCLC , the overexpression of Ezrin and the abnormal expression of E-cadherin were correlative with grading . The abnormal expression of E-cadherin was correlative with TNM staging. The expressions of Ezrin and E-cadherin were negative correlation . (3)Grading, metastases, TNM staging, the overexpression of Ezrin and the abnormal expression of E-cadherin may be prognostic factors in NSCLC. (4)Tissue microarray technique showed advantages for high through-out, economy and facilitating comparison of cases in research and was more suitable for large-sample-sized studies.