Relationship between expression of E-cadherin and invasion and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma

Objective To investigate expression of Ecadherin in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) and discuss their pertinence.Methods RT-PCR and immunohistochemical analysis technology were used to detect E-cadherin mRNA expression and E-cadherin protein expression respectively in 56 paired HCC and non-HCC liver tissue samples and 20 normal liver tissue samples.Results 1.The level of E-cadherin expression in HCC was significantly lower than that in adjacent non-HCC liver tissue and in normal liver tissue(P0.05);but no difference was seen between adjacent non-HCC liver tissue and normal liver tissue;2.E-cadherin expression in HCC had a positive correlation with recurrence after surgical treatment(P0.05) and an inverse correlation with pathological grade(P0.05);3.There was an inverse correlation between E-cadherin expression in HCC and extrahepatic metastasis(P0.05);4.Significant positive correlations were found among E-cadherin expression in adjacent non-HCC liver tissue and extrahepatic metastasis(P0.05).Conclusion Loss and downregulation of E-cadherin have an correlation with degree of tumor differentiation,capability of invasion and metastasis and tendency of recurrence,which may have some instructive significance for the assessment of outcome of HCC.