Expression and clinical significance of Ezrin and E-cadherin in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE It has been proven that Ezrin protein may interact with E-cadherin protein and take part in metastasis of tumor cells. This study was to investigate the expressions of Ezrin and E-cadherin in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and their relationship with the clinicopathologic factors, and analyze their diagnostic values for ESCC. METHODS The expression of Ezrin and E-cadherin in 72 specimen of ESCC and the paracancer normal squamous epithelium was detected using tissue array with SP immunohistochemistry. Their correlations to the clinicopathologic factors were analyzed statistically. RESULTS The positive rate of Ezrin was significantly higher in ESCC than in para-cancer normal squamous epithelium (90.7% vs. 46.0%, P < 0.001); the positive rate of E-cadherin was significantly lower in ESCC than in para-cancer normal squamous epithelium (27.6% vs. 97.4%, P < 0.001). Ezrin expression was related to the invasiveness and lymph node metastasis of ESCC (P < 0.05); E-cadherin expression was related to the differentiation and lymph node metastasis of ESCC (P < 0.05). The high expression of Ezrin was related to the low expression of E-cadherin (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION The activation of Ezrin and the absence of E-cadherin contribute to the tumorigenesis and metastasis of ESCC.