E cadherin and α catenin expressions in bladder transitional cell carcinoma

Objective To study the expression and the clinical significance of E cadherin (E cad) and α catenin(α cat) in bladder transitional cell carcinoma (BTCC). Methods Immunohistochemical method was used to detect E cad and α cat expressions in 59 cases of bladder transitional cell carcinoma. Results The abnormal expression rate of E cad and α cat was 58% and 66% respectively.E cad and α cat expression was concomitantly either normal or abnormal in 88% of tumors,the correlation between E cad and α cat expression being highly significant ( P 0.01).The abnormal expression rates of E cad and α cat were 18%,47%,79%and 18%,58%,90% in G 1,G 2,G 3 of bladder transitianal cell carcinoma respectively and were 16%,78% and 26%,85% in Tis～T 1,T 2～4 tumors.Both the gene expressions were related to the tumor grade,clinical stage and prognosis ( P 0.05). Conclusions Aberrant expression of E cad and α cat played an important role in the malignant progression of BTCC,and could be used as a marker of malignant potential and prognosis of BTCC.