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Diffuse growth pattern affects E-cadherin expression in invasive breast cancer
Ulrich Brinck1, Susanne Jacobs, Michael Neuss
1Department of Gastroenteropathology, Georg August University of Göttingen, 37099 Göttingen, Germany.
Anticancer Research
|August 28, 2004
Summary
Loss of E-cadherin expression correlates with diffuse growth patterns in invasive breast cancer. This association explains the tendency for lower E-cadherin levels in lobular compared to ductal carcinomas.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Molecular Biology
- Pathology
Background:
- E-cadherin is crucial for cell adhesion in epithelial tissues.
- Altered E-cadherin expression is implicated in various cancers, including breast cancer.
- Breast cancer subtypes, lobular and ductal carcinomas, exhibit distinct histological and molecular features.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between growth patterns (diffuse vs. compact) and E-cadherin expression in invasive lobular and ductal breast carcinomas.
- To determine if mutations in exons 6-10 of the E-cadherin gene correlate with growth patterns or expression levels.
- To understand the contribution of growth patterns to observed differences in E-cadherin expression between lobular and ductal breast cancers.
Main Methods:
- Immunohistochemistry was used to assess E-cadherin expression.
- Polymerase chain reaction-single-strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) was employed to detect mutations in E-cadherin gene exons 6-10.
- Analysis was performed on 79 cases of invasive lobular and ductal breast cancer.
Main Results:
- E-cadherin expression showed a trend towards being lower in lobular carcinomas compared to ductal carcinomas (p=0.064).
- Diffuse growth patterns predominated in 60% of lobular carcinomas, while compact growth patterns were more common in 72% of ductal carcinomas.
- E-cadherin expression was significantly lower in diffuse tumor areas compared to compact areas (p<0.001).
- No mutations were detected in the analyzed exons of the E-cadherin gene.
Conclusions:
- Loss of E-cadherin expression is associated with an increased prevalence of diffuse growth patterns in both lobular and ductal breast cancers.
- The differing proportions of diffuse and compact growth patterns between lobular and ductal types contribute to the tendency for lower E-cadherin expression in lobular carcinomas.
- E-cadherin gene mutations in exons 6-10 were not found to be a factor in this study's cohort.