Expression of E-cadherin and beta-catenin in Human Adenocarcinoma, Adenoma, and Ulcer of Stomach

Moon, Sung Bae; Kim, Jae Kwang; Choi, Hwang; Lee, Bong Soo; Ahn, Byung Min; Chung, Kyu Won; Sun, Hee Sik; Lee, Kyo Young; Kang, Chang Suck

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The decreased expression of E-cadherin and beta-catenin in human carcinoma was significantly correlated with differentiation, invasiveness, and metastasis. We investigated the relation between the expression of E-cadherin and beta-catenin and the clinicopathologic factors in the adenocarcinoma, adenoma and ulcer of stomach.
METHODS
The expression of E-cadherin and beta-catenin was analyzed immunohistochemically in 66 cases of gastric adenocarcinoma, 17 cases of normal tissue which was adjacent to the lesion of the same patient, 25 cases of gastric adenoma, and 32 cases of gastric ulcer.
RESULTS
The expression of E-cadherin and beta-catenin in the gastric adenocarcinomas and gastric ulcers was reduced more than that in the normal tissue and gastric adenomas (Fischer exact test, p<0.01). In gastric adenocarcinomas, the expression of E-cadherin and beta-catenin was more decreased in the case of undifferentiated adenocarcinoma, infiltrative adenocarcinoma, and lymph node metastasis.
CONCLUSIONS
The decreased expression of E-cadherin and beta-catenin in the gastric adenocarcinomas correlates with dedifferentiation infiltration, lymph node metastasis, and it is also associated with gastric ulcer.