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Localization and level of expression of beta-catenin in human laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma
Jose Sullivan Lopez-Gonzalez1, Lissete Cristerna-Sanchez, Maria Eugenia Vazquez-Manriquez
1Departmentos de Enfermedades Cronico Degenerativas, Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias, Mexico City, mexico. slopzgonzalez@yahoo.com
Objective:
We studied the participation of beta-catenin in the histologic differentiation of laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas.
Study Design And Setting:
At the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases, a tertiary referral center, localization and level of expression of beta-catenin were compared between normal epithelium (15 cases) and primary tumors in different degrees of differentiation (38 cases), using an immunohistochemical procedure.
Results:
Cell membrane staining of beta-catenin was observed in normal epithelium and in well and moderately differentiated carcinomas. Cytoplasmic redistribution was observed in poorly differentiated carcinomas. Loss of beta-catenin correlated with tumor dedifferentiation.
Conclusion:
Reduction of cell membrane beta-catenin expression correlated with tumor dedifferentiation.
Significance:
Loss of beta-catenin may lead to diminishing the strength of the intercellular adhesion system, thereby promoting the invasive phenotype of the squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx.
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