the frequency of abnormal e-cadherin expression and its relationship with biological behavior of gastric adenocarcinoma

background: e-cadherin is a calcium-dependent molecule that contributes to intercellular adhesion. its proper functioning is important in the maintenance of epithelial structure and integrity. e-cadherin serves as a very important tumor suppressor. in this study, we aimâ to determineâ the frequencyâ of e-cadherin expression aberrancy and its relationship to theâ biologicalâ behavior of gastric adenocarcinoma. â  materials and methods:â  a total of 52 patients with gastric cancer who underwent gastrectomies in imam khomeini hospital were investigated in a cross-sectional study. their tissues were stained by immunohistochemistry methods to investigate the expression of e-cadherin. patients' information including age, gender, helicobacter pylori infection, lesion location, adenocarcinoma subtype, metastasis, differentiation and regional lymph node involvement, depth of invasion and staging were collected and compared. â  results: age, gender, helicobacter pylori infection, lesion location, regional lymph node involvement, metastasis, depth of invasion, differentiation and staging did not have a statistically significant relationship with abnormal e-cadherin expression. abnormal e-cadherin expression was significantly higher in the diffuse sub-type as compared with the intestinal typeâ (90.9% vs. 48.8%, p=0.016).â  â  conclusions: the present study assessed the frequency and relationship between abnormal e-cadherin expression and certain biological variables of tumor behavior in iranian patients with gastric adenocarcinoma.â  a significant correlation existed only between diffuse sub-typing and reduced e-cadherin expression.