Expression of E-Cadherin in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and its clinical signifi-cance

Objective To investigate the role of E-Cadherin,in the development and progres-sion of human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma（ESCC）,and its relationship with the clinicopatho-logic characteristics and five-year survival rate of the patients. Methods The expression levels of E-Cadherin were detected in 233 ESCC tissues and their corresponding normal esophageal mucosal tissues by tissue array and immunohistochemistry. Results ESCC tissues showed a significantly higher low ex-pression rate of E-Cadherin than their corresponding normal esophageal mucosal tissues（56. 22% vs 39. 29% ,P 〈 0. 05）. The low expression of E-Cadherin was correlated with lymph node metastasis and TMN stage,but not with the patients’age,gender,tumor differentiation and general classification. Sur-vival analysis showed that abnormal expression of E-Cadherin was correlated with the 5-year survival rate of patients with ESCC. Conclusions The abnormal expression of E-Cadherin may play an important role in the progression of ESCC,and detection of E-Cadherin expression may have important prognostic value. Key words: E-Cadherin; Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; Tissue microarray; Five-year survival rate