Loss of E-cadherin Function is Suggested to be Associated with Peritoneal Seeding in Colorectal Cancer.

, Kim, Hee Cheol; , Roh, Seon Ae; , Kim, Jung Sun; , Yu, Chang Sik; , Kim, Jin Cheon

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Society of Coloproctology 2003;19(1):20-25.

Kim, Hee Cheol , Roh, Seon Ae , Kim, Jung Sun , Yu, Chang Sik , Kim, Jin Cheon

¹Department of Surgery, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. hckim@amc.seoul.kr
²Colorectal Clinic, Asan Medical Center and Departments of Pathology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

PURPOSE
We investigated whether the loss of E-cadherin function was related to the peritoneal seeding in colorectal carcinomas.
METHODS
Eleven patients who had undergone a palliative resection for a colorectal carcinoma, with peritoneal seeding, were enrolled onto the study. The primary tumors and seeding nodules were analyzed with regarded to mutations in the expressions of the CDH1 and protein of E-cadherin using SSCP, direct sequencing and immunohistochemical staining.
RESULTS
In the primary tumors, the E-cadherin was normally expressed in 9 of the 11 cases, with 2 cases showing a reduced expression. In the seeding nodules, the E-cadherin was normally expressed in 6 of the 11 cases, with 5 cases showing a reduced expression. The degree of E-cadherin expression in the seeding nodules was significantly decreased comparing to that in the primary tumors (P<0.001). In the mutational analysis, there were no pathogenic mutations in either the primary tumors or the seeding nodules, with the exception of two silent changes in the ctgggt>ctaggt (intron 2) and GTG>GTA (codon 782).
CONCLUSION
The loss of E-cadherin expression might be related to peritoneal seeding. The functional derangement of E-cadherin in peritoneal seeding could possibly be caused by a mechanism, such as promoter methylation, rather than the mutation of the CDH1.

Key Words: Colorectal carcinoma; E-cadherin; Peritoneal seeding; CDH1