Expression of E-Cadherin in gartric carcinoma

Objective To study E-CD expression in gastric carcinoma and its relation with tumor differentiation,invasion and metastasis.Methods The E-CD expression was detected by using ABC immunohistochemical method.Results 54.3% of the primary tumors(n=25) showed reduced E-CD expression.No significant correlation was found between high E-CD expression and depth of invasion,clinical pathologic stage(P0.05).Significant correlations were observed between E-CD expression and histologic classification,Borrmann classificantion and lymph node metastasis(P0.05).On the other hand,27.3% of the well-differentiated gastric carcinomas expressed higher E-CD in the primary tumors.Interestingly,69.2% of the poorly differentiated gastric carcinomas showed high E-CD in the lymph node metastasis than in the primary tumors.Conclusion The decreased E-CD expression correlates with dedifferentiation,infiltrative tumor growth,lymph node metastasis.