Reduced expression of E-cadherin/catenin complex in hepatocellular carcinomas

Table 1  Expression of five cell adhesion molecules in HCCs n (%)

	E-cadherin	α-catenin	β-catenin	γ-catenin	p120
Normal	40 (41.2)	32 (35.0)	42 (35.0)	37 (37.5)	35 (42.5)
Reduced	41 (42.3)	46 (65.0)	42 (65.0)	50 (62.5)	47 (57.5)
Absent	16 (16.5)	19	13	10	15

Table 2 Distribution of complex expression in HCCs

	Membrane	Cytoplasm	Nucleus
E-cadherin	97	0	0
α-catenin	70	27	0
β-catenin	55	36	6
γ-catenin	63	34	0
p120	65	32	0

Table 3 Relationship between expression of E-cadherin/catenin complex and histological features and clinical parameters in HCCs

		E-cadherin	α-catenin	β-catenin	γ-catenin	p120ctn
	n	+/-	+/-	+/-	+/-	+/-
Histological grade
I-II	23	20/3	19/4	22/1	20/3	19/4
III	58	17/41	11/47	20/38	11/47	15/43
IV	16	3/13	2/14	2/14	3/13	1/15
P		0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000
Histological stage
I-II	47	24/23	22/25	27/20	25/22	27/20
III	37	12/25	5/32	10/27	10/27	6/31
IV	14	4/10	3/11	5/9	2/12	2/12
P		0.136	0.003	0.017	0.007	0.000
Tumor size
< 3 cm	29	15/14	17/12	18/11	17/12	19/10
3-10 cm	50	18/32	10/40	16/34	13/37	12/38
> 10 cm	18	7/11	5/13	8/10	7/11	4/14
P		0.382	0.002	0.034	0.016	0.000
Capsular invasion
Present	9	7/2	6/3	6/3	5/4	5/4
Absent	88	33/55	26/62	36/52	32/56	30/58
P		0.003	0.055	0.169	0.295	0.277
Satellite nodules
Present	24	10/14	8/16	12/12	7/17	8/16
Absent	73	30/43	24/40	30/43	30/43	27/46
P		1.000	1.000	0.483	0.341	0.811
Vascular invasion
Present	26	8/18	8/18	12/14	10/16	7/19
Absent	71	32/39	24/47	30/41	27/44	28/43
P		0.249	1.000	0.818	1.000	0.341
Lymph node permission
Present	17	4/13	3/14	8/9	6/11	5/12
Absent	80	36/44	29/51	34/46	31/49	30/50
P		0.114	0.116	0.791	1.000	0.59
Intrahepatic metastasis
Present	32	7/25	5/27	9/23	7/25	6/26
Absent	65	33/32	27/38	33/32	30/35	29/36
P		0.008	0.012	0.049	0.026	0.014
AFP-value
< 20 ng/dL	28	6/12	13/15	16/12	14/14	15/13
> 20 ng/dL	69	24/45	19/50	26/43	23/46	20/49
P		0.068	0.096	0.113	0.167	0.035

Table 4 Relationship between E-cadherin and catenin expressions in HCCs

		α-catenin		β-catenin		γ-catenin		p120
		+	-	+	-	+	-	+	-
E-catenin	+	28	12	33	7	29	11	31	9
	-	4	53	9	48	8	49	4	53
P		0.000		0.000		0.000		0.000