Calcium The E-cadherin And ¦Á-catenin, The Expression And Pancreatic Cancer Biological Behavior

Object To investigate expression of E-cadherin (E-cad) and α-caterin (α-cat) in pancreatic carcinomas and its relationship with the biological behavior. Method Immunohistochemistry staining (PicTureTM two steps method) was used to detect E-cad and α-cat expression in 47 paraffin-embeded pancreatic carcinomas and 5 normal pancreases and 12 normal pancreases around tumors.Result E-cad and α-cat were expressed by normal ductal and acinar cells with typical membranous staining at the intercellular junctions. 17 normal pancreases strongly expressed E-cad and α-cat. The loss and reduction rate of E-cad expression in pancreatic carcinomas was 53.2% (25/47). The significant relationship was observed between low E-cad expression and dedifferentiation,high hyperplastic grade,lymph node and liver metastasis (P<0.01,0.05,0.05 and 0.01,respectively). 61.7% (29/47) pancreatic carcinomas showed reduced or no expression of α-cat, and there was good correlation of α-cat expression and histologic grade, lymph node and liver metastasis (P<0.05,0.05 and 0.01,respectively). No significant association was found between reduced expression of E-cad and α-cat and the size,invasion and 1-year survival rate of patients (P>0.05,all). There was a positive relationship between the expression of E-cad and α-cat in same sample (P<0.01,Q=0.88). The joint expression of E-cad and α-cat (E-cad+/α-cat+) were negatively correlated to the histologic grade,lymph node and liver metastasis (P<0.01,0.05,0.01,respectively). Conclusion Pancreatic cancer presented inactivation of E-cad gene and α-cat gene and down-regulation of E-cad and α-cat proteins. The level of E-cad and α-cat may be a sensitive predictor of hyperplasia,invasion and metastasis, especial in liver metastasis of pancreatic cancer.