Skip to main content
PMC home page
The American Journal of Pathology logoLink to The American Journal of Pathology
. 1993 Apr;142(4):987–993.

Correlation of E-cadherin expression with differentiation grade and histological type in breast carcinoma.

C Gamallo 1, J Palacios 1, A Suarez 1, A Pizarro 1, P Navarro 1, M Quintanilla 1, A Cano 1
PMCID: PMC1886894  PMID: 7682767

Abstract

Recently, a correlation has been suggested between a loss of E-cadherin (E-CD) and increased invasiveness of neoplastic cells. In this study, E-CD expression in breast cancer was investigated using an affinity-purified antibody (ECCD-2) in an immunoenzymatic (avidin-biotin-alkaline phosphatase) test. Intensity and extension of E-CD immunoreactivity were evaluated in 61 breast carcinomas and correlated with their histological type and grade, nodal involvement, and hormonal receptor status. Histological types were infiltrating ductal carcinoma of no special type (n = 54) and infiltrating lobular carcinoma (n = 7). All infiltrating ductal carcinomas of no special type except two grade 3 carcinomas showed positive immunoreactivity that was variable among different cases. Grade 1 breast carcinomas (n = 10) showed greater immunoreactivity than grade 2 (n = 25) and grade 3 (n = 19) carcinomas. E-CD immunoreactivity correlated positively with the degree of tubular formation and inversely with the mitoses number. None of the infiltrating lobular carcinomas expressed E-CD in their infiltrating cells, whereas they showed only weak immunostains in areas of atypical lobular hyperplasia and lobular carcinoma in situ. These results indicate that E-CD expression correlates with histological type and grade in breast carcinomas.

Full text

PDF
987

Images in this article

990Figure 1
on p.990
991Figure 2
on p.991
991Figure 3
on p.991

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Barnes R., Masood S., Barker E., Rosengard A. M., Coggin D. L., Crowell T., King C. R., Porter-Jordan K., Wargotz E. S., Liotta L. A. Low nm23 protein expression in infiltrating ductal breast carcinomas correlates with reduced patient survival. Am J Pathol. 1991 Aug;139(2):245–250. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Eidelman S., Damsky C. H., Wheelock M. J., Damjanov I. Expression of the cell-cell adhesion glycoprotein cell-CAM 120/80 in normal human tissues and tumors. Am J Pathol. 1989 Jul;135(1):101–110. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Frixen U. H., Behrens J., Sachs M., Eberle G., Voss B., Warda A., Löchner D., Birchmeier W. E-cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion prevents invasiveness of human carcinoma cells. J Cell Biol. 1991 Apr;113(1):173–185. doi: 10.1083/jcb.113.1.173. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Hennessy C., Henry J. A., May F. E., Westley B. R., Angus B., Lennard T. W. Expression of the antimetastatic gene nm23 in human breast cancer: an association with good prognosis. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1991 Feb 20;83(4):281–285. doi: 10.1093/jnci/83.4.281. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Hirano S., Nose A., Hatta K., Kawakami A., Takeichi M. Calcium-dependent cell-cell adhesion molecules (cadherins): subclass specificities and possible involvement of actin bundles. J Cell Biol. 1987 Dec;105(6 Pt 1):2501–2510. doi: 10.1083/jcb.105.6.2501. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Mareel M. M., Behrens J., Birchmeier W., De Bruyne G. K., Vleminckx K., Hoogewijs A., Fiers W. C., Van Roy F. M. Down-regulation of E-cadherin expression in Madin Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells inside tumors of nude mice. Int J Cancer. 1991 Apr 1;47(6):922–928. doi: 10.1002/ijc.2910470623. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Matsuyoshi N., Hamaguchi M., Taniguchi S., Nagafuchi A., Tsukita S., Takeichi M. Cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion is perturbed by v-src tyrosine phosphorylation in metastatic fibroblasts. J Cell Biol. 1992 Aug;118(3):703–714. doi: 10.1083/jcb.118.3.703. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Navarro P., Gómez M., Pizarro A., Gamallo C., Quintanilla M., Cano A. A role for the E-cadherin cell-cell adhesion molecule during tumor progression of mouse epidermal carcinogenesis. J Cell Biol. 1991 Oct;115(2):517–533. doi: 10.1083/jcb.115.2.517. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Schipper J. H., Frixen U. H., Behrens J., Unger A., Jahnke K., Birchmeier W. E-cadherin expression in squamous cell carcinomas of head and neck: inverse correlation with tumor dedifferentiation and lymph node metastasis. Cancer Res. 1991 Dec 1;51(23 Pt 1):6328–6337. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Shimamura K., Takahashi T., Takeichi M. E-cadherin expression in a particular subset of sensory neurons. Dev Biol. 1992 Aug;152(2):242–254. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(92)90132-z. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Shimoyama Y., Hirohashi S. Expression of E- and P-cadherin in gastric carcinomas. Cancer Res. 1991 Apr 15;51(8):2185–2192. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Shimoyama Y., Hirohashi S., Hirano S., Noguchi M., Shimosato Y., Takeichi M., Abe O. Cadherin cell-adhesion molecules in human epithelial tissues and carcinomas. Cancer Res. 1989 Apr 15;49(8):2128–2133. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Shiozaki H., Tahara H., Oka H., Miyata M., Kobayashi K., Tamura S., Iihara K., Doki Y., Hirano S., Takeichi M. Expression of immunoreactive E-cadherin adhesion molecules in human cancers. Am J Pathol. 1991 Jul;139(1):17–23. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Shirayoshi Y., Nose A., Iwasaki K., Takeichi M. N-linked oligosaccharides are not involved in the function of a cell-cell binding glycoprotein E-cadherin. Cell Struct Funct. 1986 Sep;11(3):245–252. doi: 10.1247/csf.11.245. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Takeichi M. Cadherin cell adhesion receptors as a morphogenetic regulator. Science. 1991 Mar 22;251(5000):1451–1455. doi: 10.1126/science.2006419. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Takeichi M. Cadherins: a molecular family important in selective cell-cell adhesion. Annu Rev Biochem. 1990;59:237–252. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.59.070190.001321. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Vleminckx K., Vakaet L., Jr, Mareel M., Fiers W., van Roy F. Genetic manipulation of E-cadherin expression by epithelial tumor cells reveals an invasion suppressor role. Cell. 1991 Jul 12;66(1):107–119. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(91)90143-m. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Zutter M. M., Mazoujian G., Santoro S. A. Decreased expression of integrin adhesive protein receptors in adenocarcinoma of the breast. Am J Pathol. 1990 Oct;137(4):863–870. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The American Journal of Pathology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Investigative Pathology

RESOURCES