Clinical significance of Twist, E-cadherin, and N-cadherin protein expression in endometrioid adenocarcinoma

Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate the expression of Twist, E-cadherin, and N-cadherin both in normal endometrium and in endometrioid adenocarcinoma tissues (NET and EAT), and further discuss the relationship between the proteins expression and the clinical parameters. Methods: Seventy-six EAT and 50 NET were collected from endometrioid adenocarcinoma patients and patients who received hysterectomy. We used immunohistochemistry (two steps methods) to detect the expression of Twist, E-cadherin, and N-cadherin proteins in EAT and NET. The Twist, E-cadherin, and N-cadherin protein positive expression rate in EAT and NET were compared by Chi-square test. Moreover, the correlation between patients' clincial characteristics and Twist, E-cadherin, and N-cadherin protein expression was evaluated. Results: The positive expression of Twist and N-cadherin proteins in EAT was significantly higher than those in NET ( u = 14.8, 9.04, P u = 4.14, P P P P P > 0.05). The Spearman rank correlation analysis showed that the expression of the Twist protein and that of the E-cadherin ( r = –0.584, P r = 0.460, P < 0.05) in endometrioid adenocarcinoma was significant correlated with statistical difference. Conclusion: Twist, E-cadherin, and N-cadherin protein were different expressed in EAT and NET which indicating their potential function for endometrioid adenocarcinoma development. Twist may participate in the occurrence of epithelial–mesenchymal transition, affect the expression of E-cadherin and N-cadherin and may be related to metastasis and progression of endometrioid adenocarcinoma.