Figure 7.

β-catenin and E-cadherin expression in patient samples. A: Shows β-catenin expression in normal (a) and pancreatic cancer ducts (b, c, d). A(a) demonstrates no expression in small ducts of normal pancreas (arrowheads), with robust cell–cell junction expression in acinar cells (arrows). A(b, c, d) show heterogeneous expression of β-catenin at the cell–cell junctions, cytoplasm (arrowheads), and nucleus (arrows) when cells are invading the surrounding stroma (b), the perineural region (c, N = nerve), and lymph nodes (d, LN = lymph node). Scale bar = 20 μm. (B) shows E-cadherin expression in normal (a) and pancreatic cancer ducts (b, c, d). B(a) demonstrates strong membranous expression in ducts of normal pancreas (arrowheads) and in acinar cells (arrow). B(b, c, d) show heterogeneous expression of E-cadherin with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells not expressing E-cadherin (arrowheads) or a more cytoplasmic expression (arrows) when invading the surrounding stroma (b), the perineural region (c, N = nerve) and lymph nodes (d, LN = lymph node). Scale bar = 20 μm.