Expression and significance of Ezrin and E-cadherin in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Objective To investigate the expression of Ezrin and E-cadherin in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma(ESCC)and their relationship with the clinical and pathologic factors.Method Tissue specimens from 45 cases of ESCC and 20 cases of adjacent normal tissue were studied by S-P immunohistochemistry using monoclonal antibodies to Ezrin and E-cadherin.Results The rates of abnormal expresstion were 71.11% for Ezrin and 77.78% for E-cadherin in ESCC.The abnormal expresssion rates were highly related to the invasiveness,differentiation,TNM stages and lymphatic metastasis of the cancer.The high expression of Ezrin was negatively correlated with the low expression of E-cadherin(r=-0.997,P=0.048).Conclusion The abnormal expression of Ezrin and E-cadherin is closely associated with the development and metastasis of ESCC.Detection of Ezrin and E-cadherin proteins in ESCC might offer important prognostic information.