Summary:
Background: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition is one of the mechanisms that
contribute to aggressive prognosis of gastric and esophageal cancer.
E-cadherin, claudin 4 and CD44 are some of the emerging biomarkers that are
currently evaluated in the literature in the frame of epithelial-mesenchymal
transition. The aim of this study is to evaluate the expression of these
molecules in relation to several clinicopathological parameters in gastric and
esophageal carcinomas.
Materials and Methods: This historical cohort survey was performed on gastric
and esophageal tumors obtained from 86 patients who underwent resection from
2003 until 2011. Immunohistochemistry was used for assessing the expression of
e-cadherin, claudin 4 and CD44 with a semi-quantitative model.
Results: No statistically significant correlations were found between
e-cadherin, claudin 4 or CD44 tissue expressions and patient survival or
disease-free survival. Similarly, no correlations were found between e-cadherin
or claudin 4 expressions and gender, tumor T, N, grade, stage, positive lymph
node ratio or lymphovascular invasion whereas tumor T, N, positive lymph node
ratio and lymphovascular invasion were significantly associated with positive
CD44.
Conclusions: Our results further strengthen the need of larger studies to fully
elucidate the predictive role of e-cadherin, claudin 4 and CD44 in the natural
history of gastric and esophageal cancer.
Keywords:
Gastric cancer, Epithelial - mesenchymal transition, e-cadherin, claudin 4, CD44
