Predictive value of E-cadherin and EpCAM for detection of metastatic lymph node in early gastric cancer

Abstract

Objective There has been a demand for a tumor-specific marker for metastatic lymph nodes in sentinel navigation surgery for gastric cancer. The aim of this study is to analyze protein expression in both primary tumors and metastatic lymph nodes in early gastric cancer patients. Methods We collected primary tumors and metastatic lymph nodes from 71 patients who underwent curative gastrectomy and pathologically diagnosed with T1N1 or T1N2 (8th Union for International Cancer Control 8th edition/American Joint Committee on Cancer staging system) gastric cancer. Immunohistochemistry was used to determine the expression of six cell membrane proteins, including carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), E-cadherin, epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM), P-cadherin, CD44v6, and c-erbB2 in the patient samples. Results The expression of CEA, E-cadherin, EpCAM, P-cadherin, CD44v6 and c-erbB2 in the evaluable primary tumor samples was 75.4%, 97.1%, 100%, 89.9%, 11.1% and 7.2%, respectively. Among cases wherein both the primary tumor and metastatic lymph nodes were evaluable, double positivity (expression in both primary tumor and metastatic lymph nodes) was observed for CEA, E-cadherin, EpCAM, P-cadherin, CD44v6 and c-erbB2 in 53.2%, 97.9%, 98.1%, 76.6%, 0 and 6.8% of the cases, respectively. The proportion of metastatic lymph nodes positive for CEA, E-cadherin, EpCAM, P-cadherin, CD44v6 and c-erbB2 was 71.4%, 100%, 98.1%, 83.7%, 0, and 75%, respectively in primary tumors positive for the same markers. Conclusions E-cadherin and EpCAM had an overlap of 100% and 98.1% between the primary tumor and metastatic lymph nodes, respectively. Thus, E-cadherin and EpCAM are potential molecular markers to detect metastatic lymph nodes in patients with early gastric cancer.

Prognostic and Clinicopathological Significance of E-Cadherin in Pancreatic Cancer Patients: A Meta-Analysis

“…In the present study, E-cadherin expression was significantly associated with grade, metastasis, and differentiation of pancreatic cancer. In a published study, E-cadherin was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis in gastric cancer (53). Cancer-associated fibroblasts could lead to the deposition of the ECM and mediate the process of EMT, which includes regulation of E-cadherin expression level (54).…”

Repurposing Benztropine, Natamycin, and Nitazoxanide Using Drug Combination and Characterization of Gastric Cancer Cell Lines

“…EPCam, an epithelial cell membrane molecule, was expressed in all cell lines. The increased levels of EPCam in GC and metastatic lesions indicate that this marker is a promising therapeutic target [ 58 ]. All the cell lines evaluated did not express any of the remaining immunomarkers.…”

Overview on the Role of E-Cadherin in Gastric Cancer: Dysregulation and Clinical Implications

“…Zhila Torabizadeh et al detected the protein expression level of E-cadherin in the tumor tissues and adjacent tissues of 70 patients with gastric cancer. And they found among these 70 patients, 48.6% showed abnormal E-cadherin expression.the abnormal expression of E-cadherin has a strong correlation with tumor stage, tumor grade, depth of invasion and local lymph node involvement, this marker can be used as a predictor of tumor aggressiveness in gastric cancer (Torabizadeh et al, 2017;Wool Eom et al, 2020).…”