E-cadherin and Snail Immunoexpression in Colorectal Adenocarcinomas

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a fundamental process which governs invasiveness. E-cadherin plays a major role in development, organogenesis and tissue formation, but also in tumor progression. Snail is a transcription factor described as a direct repressor of E-cadherin during development and in carcinogenesis. In this study we analyzed E-cadherin and Snail immunoexpression in 47 cases of colorectal adenocarcinoma (CRC) in comparison with some histopathological prognostic factors. The majority of cases were G2 tumors in stages II and III, with vascular and perineural invasion. All cases showed positive cytoplasmic signal for E-cadherin and Snail. E-cadherin reactions were intense with the highest composite score (CS) values in CRC G1. CS values of E-cadherin decreased with the advancement in tumor stage and the association with vascular and perineural invasion was statistically significant. Snail immunoreaction was intense with the highest values of CS in CRC G3, being more evident with the increase of tumor staging, aspect which was statistically significant. CS and Snail association demonstrated a statistically significant aspect related to vascular invasion. We found a negative linear correlation of E-cadherin and Snail expression. The obtained results indicate the implication of Snail and E-cadherin in EMT of CRC, aspect which is useful in the evaluation and stratification of patients with CRC for the targeted specific therapy.