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Meta-Analysis
. 2017 Aug 1;15(1):139.
doi: 10.1186/s12957-017-1210-8.

E-cadherin expression phenotypes associated with molecular subtypes in invasive non-lobular breast cancer: evidence from a retrospective study and meta-analysis

Jiang-Bo Liu  1 , Chen-Yi Feng  2 , Miao Deng  3 , Dong-Feng Ge  4 , De-Chun Liu  3 , Jian-Qiang Mi  4 , Xiao-Shan Feng  5
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

E-cadherin expression phenotypes associated with molecular subtypes in invasive non-lobular breast cancer: evidence from a retrospective study and meta-analysis

Jiang-Bo Liu et al. World J Surg Oncol. .

Abstract

Background: This retrospective study and meta-analysis was designed to explore the relationship between E-cadherin (E-cad) expression and the molecular subtypes of invasive non-lobular breast cancer, especially in early-stage invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC).

Methods: A total of 156 post-operative cases of early-stage IDCs were retrospectively collected for the immunohistochemistry (IHC) detection of E-cad expression. The association of E-cad expression with molecular subtypes of early-stage IDCs was analyzed. A literature search was conducted in March 2016 to retrieve publications on E-cad expression in association with molecular subtypes of invasive non-lobular breast cancer, and a meta-analysis was performed to estimate the relational statistics.

Results: E-cad was expressed in 82.7% (129/156) of early-stage IDCs. E-cad expression was closely associated with the molecular types of early-stage IDCs (P < 0.050); moreover, the molecular subtypes were an independent factor influencing E-cad expression in early-stage IDCs. A total of 12 observational studies (including our study) were included in the meta-analysis. The meta-analytical results show a significantly greater risk of E-cad expression loss in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) than in other molecular subtypes (TNBC vs. luminal A: RR = 3.45, 95% CI = 2.79-4.26; TNBC vs. luminal B: RR = 2.41, 95% CI = 1.49-3.90; TNBC vs. HER2-enriched: RR = 1.95, 95% CI = 1.24-3.07).

Conclusions: Early-stage IDCs or invasive non-lobular breast cancers with the TNBC molecular phenotype have a higher risk for the loss of E-cad expression than do tumors with non-TNBC molecular phenotypes, suggesting that E-cad expression phenotypes were closely related to molecular subtypes and further studies are needed to clarify the underlying mechanism.

Keywords: Breast cancer; E-cadherin; Immunohistochemistry; Meta-analysis; Molecular subtypes.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Science and Technology, and informed consent was obtained from all the patients involved with the collection of tissue samples.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Classification algorithm for molecular subtyping [8, 19]
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Expression of E-cad, ER, PR, HER2, and Ki67 in early stage IDC. a ER positive expression in nucleus of IDC. b ER negative expression in nucleus of IDC. c PR positive expression in nucleus of IDC. d PR negative expression in nucleus of IDC. e HER2 positive expression in membrane of IDC. f HER2 negative expression in membrane of IDC. g Ki67 positive expression in nucleus of IDC. h Ki67 negative expression in nucleus of IDC. i E-cad positive expression in membrane of IDC. j E-cad negative/low expression in membrane of IDC. Bar = 100 μm
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The PRISMA literature search flow chart
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Comparison of E-cad expression loss between TNBC and non-TNBC tumors. TNBC triple-negative breast cancer
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Comparison of E-cad expression loss between TNBC and luminal subtype and HER2-enriched tumors. TNBC triple-negative breast cancer
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Funnel plot of comparison of E-cad expression loss between TNBC and non-TNBCs. TNBC triple-negative breast cancer
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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