The expression and correlation of ZEB1 and E-cadherin in human bladder urothelial carcinoma

Abstract

Objective To explore the expression, correlation and clinic-pathological characters of zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1 (ZEB1) and E-cadherin in normal bladder tissues and bladder urothelial carcinoma(BUC). Methods Immunohistochemical staining was performed on paraffin embedded sections to detect the expression of ZEB1 and E-cadherin in 86 cases of BUC, diagnosed by pathology, between March 2008 and March 2011. Among them, 51 cases were male and 35 cases were female. The mean age was (64.1±10.2)years, range 36 to 72 years.40 cases were older than 65 years old, and 46 cases were less than 65 years old. The pathological classification included G1 in 28 cases, G2-G3 in 58 cases. The TNM classification showed that Ta-T1 stage in 34 cases, T2-T4 in 52 cases. Single lesion was found in 49 cases and multi lesion was found in 37 cases. 55 cases were primary lesion; the other 31 cases were diagnosed as tumor recurrence. Normal bladder mucosa was obtained from 16 patients with BPH. Their age ranged from 51 to 75 years old, mean (58.6±18.4)years old. Similar immunohistochemical staining about ZEB1 and E-cadherin was performed. The expression of ZEB1 and E-cadherin in different tissue and its relationship with the clinic pathological were further analyzed. Results The positive rate of ZEB1 in bladder cancer group (39.5%, 34/86) was significantly higher than that in normal bladder mucosa group(0, 0/16) (P<0.01). The positive rate of ZEB1 in high grade bladder cancer (G2-G3) was 48.3% (28/58), which was significant higher than that in low grade bladder cancer (G1) (21.4%, 6/28) (P<0.05); The positive rate of ZEB1 in muscle-invasive bladder cancer (T2-T4) was 51.9% (27/52), which was significant higher than that in non-muscle-invasive cancer (Ta-T1) (20.6%, 7/34) (P<0.01). The abnormal rate of E-cadherin expression in bladder cancer (61.6%, 53/86) was significantly lower than that in normal bladder mucosa (81.2%, 13/16) (P<0.01). The abnormal expression rate of E-cadherin in high grade bladder cancer (G2-G3) (53.4%, 31/58) was significantly lower than that in low grade bladder cancer (G1) (78.6%, 22/28)(P<0.05); The abnormal rate of E-cadherin expression in invasive bladder cancer (T2-T4) was 51.9% (27/52), which was lower than that in non-muscle invasive (Ta-T1) cancer (76.5%, 26/34) (P<0.05). In bladder cancer, there was a negative correlation between the abnormal expression of E-cadherin and positive expression of ZEB1 (r=0.247, P<0.05). Conclusion The expressions of ZEB1 and E-cadherin in bladder cancer were negatively correlated, which had high correlated with tumor grade and stage. Key words: Zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1; E-cadherin; Bladder cancer; Immunohistochemistry