Correlation of E-cadherin expression with clinicopathological parameters in breast carcinoma

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation between the E-cadherin (E-CD) expression and clinicopathological parameters including tumor grade, patient age, tumor size, necrosis, peritumoral lymphovascular invasion and lymph node status in breast carcinomas.

METHODS: The specimens were surgically obtained from 51 female patients with breast carcinoma between 1997 and 2001 in Karadeniz Technical University Medicine Faculty Farabi Hospital, Trabzon, Turkey. Histologic grading was according to the Bloom and Richardson methods. Tumors were classified as grade I (well differentiated), grade II (moderately differentiated) and grade III (poorly differentiated). Necrosis was graded as (-), (+), (++) and (+++).

RESULTS: Grade 1 breast carcinomas (n=17) showed greater immunoreactivity than grade 2 (n= 22) and grade 3 (n=12) carcinomas. None of the infiltrating lobular carcinomas expressed E-CD. Statistically, significant difference has been noticed between E-CD expression and the histological grade. In contrast, no association were found between E-CD expression and metastatic potential, tumor size, tumor necrosis and patients' age.

CONCLUSION: Results in the present report suggest that E-CD expression in breast carcinoma is more related to histological type and differentiation grade than with metastatic potential, tumor size, tumor necrosis and patients' age.