[The expression of E-cadherin in oral cancer with different biological behavior]

To investigate a potential mechanism of invasion and metastasis of oral cancers, and the possibility of the adhesion molecules being markers for evaluating the prognosis of oral cancers.

Randomly selecting achieved paraffin blocks, including 60 cases of squamous cell carcinoma(SCC), 30 cases of verrucous carcinoma(VC) of oral mucosa and 30 cases of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) of epidermis. All cases were followed up. Using immunohistochemistry method (Envision) to detect the expression of E-cadherin antibody and observe under light microscope.

The studies demonstrated that 38.2% of SCC had recurrence and/or metastases after operation. However, only 0.0% and 0.04%, in VC and BCC, respectively, had recurrence and/or metastases. There was significant difference on prognoses between SCC and VC or BCC. The immunostaining showed significant difference of E-cad expression between SCC and VC (P<0.01), SCC and BCC (P<0.05). The former was weaker than VC and BCC. However, no difference was showed in E-cad expression between VC and BCC (P>0.05).

E-cad plays an important role in maintaining the phenotype of epithelial cell of SCC and normal oral mucosa. The degree of expression of E-cad was correlated with the ability of invasion and/or metastasis of SCC, VC and BCC. It indicates that E-cad may be as a helpful marker to evaluate the prognosis of oral cancers.