Expressions of Eª²cadherin and ¦Âª²catenin in human primary epithelial ovarian carcinomas and their clinical significance

    YU Yueª²Cheng, XIN Xiaoª²Yan, LI Hongª²Mei, YANG Yong, LI Qiª²Ling, ZHANG Ming, WANG Xiaoª²Hong

    Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Department of Clinical Immunology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi¬ðan 710033, China, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Affiliated Hospital, Medical College, Yan¬ðan University, Yan¬ðan 716000, China

     ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To evaluate the relationship between the expressions of Eª²cadherin, ¦Âª²catenin and the biologic behavior of primary epithelial ovarian carcinomas. METHODS: The levels of Eª²cadherin and ¦Âª²catenin expressions were examined in 30 cases of normal ovarian tissue and 80 cases of primary epithelial ovarian carcinomas by immunohistochemical technique , and the expressions was classified and analyzed statistically according to pathological grading, lymphatic metastasis and clinical staging. RESULTS: In comparison with the normal ovarian tissue, the expression of Eª²cadherin was significantly decreased in the poorly differentiated tumor and in the advanced patients (P<0.05),and also in the tumor tissues from the patients with local lymphnode metastases (P<0.05). On the contrary, the expression of ¦Âª²catenin was significantly increased in all kinds of primary epithelial ovarian carcinomas (P<0.05), and it was upregulated along with the progressing of clinical stage (P<0.05); it was the same in the tumor tissues from the patients with local lymphnode metastases (P<0.05), but no differences were found in relation to cell differentiation (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: The downregulation of Eª²cadherin and the upregulation of ¦Âª²catenin are correlated with the malignant behavior of primary epithelial ovarian carcinoma, and the examination of Eª²cadherin and ¦Âª²catenin expression in primary epithelial ovarian carcinoma can help to evaluate its clinical prognosis. ......