A comparative evaluation on E-cadherin expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma with and without regional lymph node metastasis

A comparative evaluation on E-cadherin expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma with and without regional lymph node metastasis Dr. N. Mohtasham* - Dr. A. Omidi**- Dr. K. Kamyabhesari*** - Dr. M. Shakeri**** *- Assistant Professor of Oral Pathology Dept. - Faculty of Dentistry – Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. **- Professor of Pathology Dept. – Ghaem Hospital. ***- Fellowship of Dermatology. ****- Assistant Professor of Social Medicine Dept. – Ghaem Hospital. Background and Aim: E-cadherin is a cell to cell adhesion molecule and a reduction in its expression is an important step in the progression of lots of epithelial cancers. Regional lymph node metastasis ia an important prognostic indicator in cancers. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare E-cadherin expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma with and without regional lymph node metastasis. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective analytic – descriptive study, the expression of E – cadherin was evaluated in 34 formalin – fixed, paraffin – embedded specimens of oral S.C.C. and regional lymph node metastasis, half of them with and the other half without metastasis, using immunohistochemistry. The regional anti – body was E-cadherin which was detected by Biotinylated link and Streptoavidin methods. Wilcoxon test was used to compare the E – cadherin incidence in the primary tumor and Mann – Whitney non-parametric test was used to compare its incidence in S.C.C without and with metastatic tumor. Results: In normal squamous epithelium, E – cadherin was expressed uniformity at the cell membrane, abnormal E – cadherin expression with loss of membranous localization was found in 82% of specimens and a significantly greater reduction in expression levels of E-cadherin was found in metastatic group as compared with non – metastatic group (P=0.003, 0.007). There was not any significant difference between primary tumors in two groups (P=0.60). A relationship was found between abnormal expression of E-cadherin and the differentiation of oral S.C.C (P<0.01). Conclusion: Abnormal expression of E-cadherin is associated with differentiation, progression and metastatic of oral S.C.C. Key words: Oral squamous cell carcinoma – E – cadherin – Metastasis – Immunohistochemistry.