Abnormal expression of serum soluble E-cadherin is correlated with clinicopathological features and prognosis of breast cancer

Abstract

Background: Increased amounts of soluble E-cadherin (E-cad) have been found in the serum in various cancers, but the role of serum soluble E-cad in the prognosis of breast cancer patients has not been explored in Asian populations.

Material/method: Blood samples from 111 consecutive patients diagnosed with breast cancer and 55 healthy controls were investigated.Serum soluble E-cad expression levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) with an immunoassay kit according to the manufacturer's directions. Kaplan-Meier analyses were used to evaluate the association between serum soluble E-cad expression level and survival. All statistical tests were 2-sided.

Results: The serum levels of soluble E-cad in breast cancer patients were significantly higher than those of the control group (2218.9±319.6 ng/ml vs. 742.8±91.7 ng/ml, p<0.001). Serum levels of soluble E-cad correlated significantly with TNM stage (P=0.007), tumor grade (P=0.03), and lymph node metastasis (P<0.001). Kaplan-Meier analysis with the log-rank test indicated that high serum levels of soluble E-cad had a significant impact on overall survival (55.4% vs. 81.4%; P=0.032) and disease-free survival (36.8% vs. 67.8%; P=0.002) in breast cancer. Multivariate analysis revealed that serum levels of soluble E-cad were independently associated with overall survival and disease-free survival in breast cancer patients.

Conclusions: Serum soluble E-cad level is an independent prognostic factor in Asian breast cancer patients.

Figure 1

The serum soluble E-cad levels. (A) The serum levels of soluble E-cad in breast cancer patients were significantly higher than those of the control group (2218.9±319.6 ng/ml vs. 742.8±91.7 ng/ml, p<0.001). (B) ROC curve for the serum soluble E-cad differentiating breast cancer and control group. The analysis revealed that serum level of soluble E-cad was a potential biomarker for differentiating breast cancer patients from controls and was under the ROC curve of 0.935 [95% confidence interval (CI)=0.900–0.969].

Figure 2

Kaplan-Meier analysis with the log-rank test indicated that high serum levels of soluble E-cad had a significant impact on overall survival (55.4% vs. 81.4%; P=0.032) in breast cancer.

Figure 3

Kaplan-Meier analysis with the log-rank test indicated that high serum levels of soluble E-cad had a significant impact on disease-free survival (36.8% vs. 67.8%; P=0.002) in breast cancer.