[Expression of E-cadherin, N-cadherin, β-catenin and their clinical significance in laryngeal carcinoma].

Objective To investigate the expression of E-cadherin(E-cad), N-cadherin(N-cad), β-catenin(β-cat), which are the markers of Epithelial-mesenchymal transition and analyze their relationships with the clinicopathological features and the prognosis of the laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Methods The expression levels of E-cad, N-cad, β-cat in 76 tumor tissues and their corresponding adjacent normal laryngeal tissues were determined by immunohistochemistry method. Relationships between the proteins' expression and clinicopathological features were analyzed. Survival curves were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Differences in the survival rates were analyzed by the log-rank test among different expression groups. Cox's regression model was used to examine the independent predictor of the prognosis of the laryngeal cancer. Results The expression levels of E-cad, N-cad, β-cat in tumor tissues and adjacent normal tissues were statistically significant(P<0.001). The expression level of E-cad and β-cat in the laryngeal carcinoma was related to lymph node metastasis, clinical pathological stage and differentiation degree (P<0.05), while N-cad expression level was associated with clinical stage and differentiation degree (P<0.05). The expression of E-cad was correlated with the expression of β-cat (P=0.001), and the expression of N-cad was correlated with β-cat (P=0.02), but the expression of E-cad was not correlated with N-cad. There were four subgroups of patterns of E-cad and N-cad expression: E-cad (+ )/N-cad (-), E-cad (+ ) /N-cad (+ ), E-cad (-) /N-cad (-), E-cad (-) /N-cad (+ ). The expression level of each group was related to the clinical pathological stage and differentiation degree (P<0.05). The expression level of E-cad/β-cat was associated with lymph node metastasis, clinical pathological stage and differentiation degree (P<0.01). Log-rank analysis showed that the prognosis of negative and positive groups was statistically different (P<0.05), and the combined analysis showed that the prognosis of E-cad/N-cad or E-cad/β-cat group was significantly different (P<0.01). Cox's regression model analysis showed that the clinical stage and β-cat were independent predictors of the prognosis of laryngeal carcinoma. Conclusions The low expression of E-cad, high abnormal expression of N-cad and β-cat played an important role in the occurrence and development of laryngeal carcinoma. It can provide a reference for evaluating clinical prognosis. The clinical pathological stage and β-cat can be used as independent predictors for the prognosis of laryngeal carcinoma. Key words: Carcinoma, squamous cell; E-cadherin; N-cadherin; β-catenin; Prognosis