Relationship between E-Cadherin and invasion and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma

OBJECTIVE:To investigate the association between E-Cadherin expression and invasion and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC).METHODS:RT-PCR analysis technology were used to detect E-Cadherin mRNA expression in 56 paired HCC and non-HCC liver tissue samples and 20 normal liver tissue samples,respectively.RESULTS:The level of E-Cadherin expression in HCC was significantly lower than those in the adjacent non-HCC liver tissue and normal liver tissue(P were 0.016 and 0.003 respectively),but no difference was seen between the adjacent non-HCC liver tissue and normal liver tissue(P were 0.076 and 0.082 respectively).E-Cadherin expression in HCC had a positive correlation with the recurrence after the surgical treatment(R2=0.887,P0.05),and an inverse correlation with pathological grade,R2=0.823,P0.05.There was an inverse correlation between E-Cadherin expression and extrahepatic metastasis in HCC,R2=0.839,P0.05.CONCLUSION:E-Cadherin has an correlation with the degree of tumor differentiation,capability of invasion and metastasis and tendency of recurrence,which may have some instructive significance for assessment of outcome of HCC.