Features of the Expression of the Cell Adhesion Molecule E-Cadherin in Different Molecular Subtypes of Invasive Ductal Breast Cancer

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to determine the role of E-cadherin in the development and progression of molecular subtypes of invasive ductal breast cancer by assessing the expression of E-cadherin in various clinical and pathological prognostic parameters. Materials and methods. We demonstrated a comprehensive morphological, including immunohistochemical study of 193 cases of invasive ductal breast cancer with the molecular phenotype definition. General histological processing of samples was performed according to standard methods. Immunohistochemical studies for E-cadherin, ER, PR, c-erbB2, Ki-67 were performed according to standardized analytically validated protocols with the necessary controls. The grade of malignancy was determined according to the modified scheme of P. Scarff, H. Bloom and W. Richardson. E-cadherin expression level was quantified in 86 observations using the Qureshi counting system. Comparison of E-cadherin expression in different clinical and pathological parameters was evaluated using Pearson's test χ2. For all types of analysis, differences were considered significant at p <0.05. Results and discussion. E-cadherin expression in ductal breast cancer tissue is significantly lower in cases with lymph node metastases than without metastatic lymph node involvement (χ2 = 4.55, p = 0.031). Low expression of E-cadherin or its absence was associated with pT3 tumors, clinical stage 3, with G2 and G3 malignancies. Loss of E-cadherin expression has an unfavorable prognostic value. E-cadherin expression is associated with the molecular type of invasive breast ductal carcinoma. High E-cadherin expression was common in ER-positive tumors of the luminal A phenotype and was determined in patients of both premenopausal and postmenopausal age, suggesting that ER-positive expression may be involved in the regulation of E-cadherin expression. Low tumor activity of cells of invasive ductal breast cancer of the luminal subtype is accompanied by an increase in the adhesive properties of these cells due to the high level of expression of E-cadherin. E-cadherin is considered an independent marker of triple-negative breast cancer and is characterized by an unfavorable prognosis and short life expectancy. Triple-negative cancer was associated with a significant predominance of patients with low and negative E-cadherin expression (p = 0.011). Conclusion. Thus, E-cadherin is a potent tumor suppressor of breast cancer. According to this role in the progression of breast cancer, it was found that partial or complete loss of E-cadherin expression correlates with an unfavorable prognosis in patients