Korean J Pathol.
2013 Feb;47(1):44-51.
Alteration of the E-Cadherin/beta-Catenin Complex Is an Independent Poor Prognostic Factor in Lung Adenocarcinoma
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Pathology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. chungjh@snu.ac.kr
- 2Department of Pathology, Presbyterian Medical Center, Jeonju, Korea.
- 3Department of Thoracic Surgery, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seongnam, Korea.
- 4Department of Pathology, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seongnam, Korea.
- 5Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seongnam, Korea.
Abstract
- BACKGROUND
Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is an important step in the invasion and progression of cancer and in the development of chemoresistance by cancer cells.
METHODS
To address the clinical significance of the EMT pathway in lung adenocarcinoma and the association of the pathway with histological subtype, we examined 193 surgically resected lung adenocarcinoma samples for the expression of representative EMT-related proteins (E-cadherin, beta-catenin, and vimentin) by immunohistochemistry. Histological subtypes were classified according to the 2011 International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer/American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society classification. The results for EMT-related protein expression were analyzed for correlation with clinicopathological features and with survival.
RESULTS
The loss of E-cadherin expression and aberrant beta-catenin expression were significantly associated with larger tumor size, pleural invasion, lymphatic/vascular invasion, and advanced pathological stage (p<0.05). The alteration of the E-cadherin/beta-catenin complex was least frequently observed in the lepidic-predominant group, but these associations were not statistically significant. In the multivariate analysis, altered E-cadherin/beta-catenin complex expression was found to be an independent poor prognostic factor (p=0.017; hazard ratio, 1.926; 95% confidence interval, 1.119 to 3.314).
CONCLUSIONS
The alteration of the expression of the E-cadherin/beta-catenin complex was associated with aggressive tumor behavior in lung adenocarcinoma.
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