E-cadherin and N-cadherin expression in hepatocellular carcinoma

Objective To explore the expression of E-cadherin and N-cadherin in HCC and the relationship between E-cadherin and N-cadherin,and to seek their correlations to metastasis in HCC. Methods Expression of E-cadherin and N-cadherin was detected in 46 cases of HCC and 10 cases of normal liver specimens by immunohistochemical EnVision.Results In 46 cases of HCC,34 cases(73.9%) and 30 cases(65.2%) showed low expression of E-cadherin and N-cadherin,respectively,whereas all of the 10 cases(100%) showed high expression of the both.The expression of E-casherin and N-cadherin was related with the malignant degree and metastasis potential(P0.05), and showed positive correlation between each other(r=0.579,P0.01). Conclusions The expression levels of E-cadherin and N-cadherin in HCC are lower than normal liver specimen.N-cadherin positively correlates with E-cadherin.The lower expression of E-cadherin and N-cadherin suggests poorly differentiated and higher potential of metasbasis.