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. 2024 Mar 21;25(6):3547.
doi: 10.3390/ijms25063547.

Expression of E-Cadherin and N-Cadherin in the Endocervix as a Predictive Factor in Patients with Endometrial Cancer

Karolina Frąszczak  1 , Bartłomiej Barczyński  2 , Bożydar Tylus  3 , Wiesława Bednarek  1
Affiliations

Expression of E-Cadherin and N-Cadherin in the Endocervix as a Predictive Factor in Patients with Endometrial Cancer

Karolina Frąszczak et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most common gynecological malignancy. This study aimed to evaluate the expression of E-cadherin and N-cadherin in primary endometrial lesions and the endocervix in patients with EC to identify noninvasive predictive factors. In this single-center retrospective study, data on 101 patients who underwent surgery for EC were collected. The immunohistochemical expression of E-cadherin and N-cadherin was assessed depending on the tumor grade, location, and cell differentiation. Correlations between E-cadherin and N-cadherin levels in the endocervix and the primary tumor were determined. The degree of histological tumor differentiation significantly affected E-cadherin expression (p = 0.04) but had no impact on N-cadherin levels. In type II EC, the expression of both cadherins in the tumor tissue differed from their endocervical levels. The expression of E-cadherin differed significantly between the endocervix (p < 0.001) and the tumor (p = 0.001), depending on the type of EC. The expression of E-cadherin was related to the N-cadherin level only in the endocervix in patients with type II EC (p = 0.02). E-cadherin and N-cadherin were expressed in the endocervix in patients with EC. The expression of cadherins, determined during cervical cytology, may be a valuable clinical marker of EC.

Keywords: E-cadherin; N-cadherin; endometrial cancer; epithelial–mesenchymal transition.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
An example of a low expression of E-cadherin (A,B) and a high expression of N-cadherin (C,D) in the same tumor-containing fragment in a patient with endometrial cancer (magnification 200×).
Figure 2
Figure 2
The staining of cadherins in endometrial cancer cells (magnification 200×): (A) low E-cadherin expression (weak staining in the cytoplasm of glandular epithelial cells); (B) high E-cadherin expression (intense staining in the cytoplasm of most cells); (C) no N-cadherin expression (glandular epithelial cells and the tumor stroma); (D) high expression N-cadherin (intense dark brown staining in the cytoplasm of some cells).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Examples of immunohistochemical staining with anti-E-cadherin antibody (magnification 200×): (A) in the endocervix (weak staining in the nuclei of epithelial cells); (B) in endometrial cancer cells (intense staining in glandular epithelial cells).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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