口くうへん平上皮癌におけるＥ‐カドヘリンの発現：所属リンパ節転移との関連および癌化学療法による発現への影響

Abstract

To test whether the expression of E-cadherin in oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) might influence metastatic potential, we utilized an anti-E-cadherin monoclonal antibody, HECD-1, to immunohistochemically study SCCs obtained from 59 patients who had no history of treatment for carcinoma. E-cadherin of the SCCs were expressed on the cell surface in the following patterns: 1) all cells were strongly positive for the staining (“positive”); 2) some cells were positive but the remaining cells were negative or weakly positive (“weakly positive”); 3) all cells were almost or completely negative (“negative”). Statistical analyses revealed that the incidence of metastasis to regional lymph nodes in the “negative” and “weakly positive” cases (59.1%) was significantly higher than that in the “positive” cases (0%)(p=0.0002). In addition, metastases in multiple lymph nodes were detected in all of the “negative” cases with metastasis (p=0.0471). Moreover, the actuarial survival rate after 4 years in the “positive” cases (93.3%) was significantly higher than that after 5 years in the “negative” and “weakly positive” cases (74.5%)(p<0.05). The determination of E-cadherin expression in oral SCC is therefore expected to provide useful information with regard to prognosis. In this study, we also examined the influence of the anti-cancer agents, including cisplatin, carboplatin, peplomycin, pirarubicin, and/or doxorubicin, on the expression of E-cadherin in oral SCCs obtained from 36 patients. The patterns of HECD-1-staining differed between specimens obtained before and after chemotherapy in 14 of the 36 cases (38.9%). Moreover, increased expression of E-cadherin on the SCC cells was seen in 12 of the 14 cases (85.7%) that showed a different staining pattern after treatment. Consequently, the increased E-cadherin expression on the SCC cells may have been mediated by the anti-cancer agents.