Expression of CD44~+/CD24~(-/low) phenotype,E-cadherin and N-cadherin in breast cancer and its correlation and significance

Background and purpose:Research has shown that EMT can induce epithelial tumor cells to express the CD44 + /CD24 -/low phenotype. E-cadherin and N-cadherin are important cadherin proteins that derive from epithelial cells and stromal cells, respectively. The transformation from E-cadherin to N-cadherin is an important mechanism for EMT because the cadherin protein shift increases the invasion and metastatic rates of cancer cells. This study aimed to investigate the expression of CD44 + /CD24 -/low phenotype and its significance in E-cadherin and N-cadherin in breast cancer. Methods:The expression of CD44 + /CD24 -/low phenotype, E-cadherin and N-cadherin in 15 normal breast tissues, 20 adjacent tissues (2-5 cm form the cancer tissues), 58 breast cancer tissues and 18 metastatic axillary lymph nodes were detected through immunohistochemistry. The correlations of the occurrences, invasion and metastasis of the breast cancer were analyzed. Results:The expression rates of CD44 + /CD24 -/low phenotype in normal breast tissues, the adjacent tissues, breast cancer and metastatic axillary lymph nodes were 6.7%, 10.0%, 41.4% and 44.4%. The positive rates of E-cadherin were 100%, 90.0%, 51.7% and 33.3%, and the positive rates of N-cadherin were 0, 15.0%, 44.8% and 55.6% for those groups, respectively. There were significant differences among the three groups (P0.05). The expression of CD44 + /CD24 -/low phenotype was obviously different between the expression of E-cadherin and N-cadherin. The expression of CD44 + /CD24 -/low phenotype was strongly correlated with the expression of E-cadherin, but showed a relatively weak correlation with the expression of N-cadherin. The expression of E-cadherin and N-cadherin were significantly different but highly correlated in breast cancer (P0.05). Conclusion:The increased expression of the CD44 + /CD24 -/low phenotype, the reduced expression of E-cadherin, and the abnormal expression of N-cadherin are closely involved in the occurrence, invasion and metastasis of breast cancer. The transformation from E-cadherin to N -cadherin and the increased expression of CD44 + /CD24 -/low phenotype may play an important role in the development of breast cancer.