Expression of E-Cadherin in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma is Associated with Clinical Prognosis

OBJECTIVE To investigate the correlation of E-cadherin expression with clinicopathological parameters and prognosis of patients with oral squa- mous cell carcinoma. METHODS We examined the expression of the protein E-cadherin in 43 oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) surgical speciments by SABC im- munohistochemistry. RESULTS There was a significant correlation between the level of E- cadherin expression and tumor stage (P=0.024), invasive pattern (P= 0.009) and lymph node metastasis (P=0.023). No relation was found with age (P=0.084), sex (P= 1.356) and differentiation (P=0.877). Using the Kaplan-Meier method we demonstrated that those cases which showed E-cadherin expression (-) or (+) had a significantly poorer prognosis compared those cases which showed expression (++) or (+++) (P= 0.0146). CONCLUSION E -cadherin, is an important indicator of clinical diag- noses and prognositic marker for oral SCC patients.