Relationship between expression of E-cadherin,α-catenin and biological behaviors of human pancreatic cancer

Objective To investigate expression of E-cadherin (E-cad) and α-catenin (α-Cat) in pancreatic carcinoma and its relationship with the biological behavior. Methods Immunohistochemistry staining (PicTure TM two steps method) was used to detect E-cad and α-Cat expression in 47 specimens of paraffin-embeded pancreatic carcinoma and 17 normal pancreas around tumors. Results E-cad and α-Cat were expressed by normal ductal and acinar cells with typical membranous staining at the intercellular junctions. 17 normal specimens of pancreas strongly expressed E-cad and α-Cat. The loss and reduction rate of E-cad expression in pancreatic carcinoma was 53.2%(25/47). The significant relationship was observed between low E-cad expression and differentiation,high hyperplastic grade and metastasis (P0.01,0.05, 0.05 and 0.01 , respectively). 61.7% (29/47) pancreatic carcinoma showed reduced or no expression of α-Cat, and there was a good correlation of α-Cat expression and histologic grade and metastasis(P0.05,0.05 and 0.01, respectively). No significant association was found between reduced expression of E-cad and α-Cat and tumor size,invasion and 1-year survival rate of patients(all P0.05). There was a positive relationship between the expression of E-cad and α-Cat in the same specimen (r=0.88,P0.01). Conclusions Pancreatic cancer presented inactivation of E-cad gene and α-Cat gene or 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.