Promoter methylation and expression of CDH1 and susceptibility and prognosis of eyelid squamous cell carcinoma

Eyelid skin tumors are the most frequent type of cancer in ophthalmology. And, eyelid squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) accounts for a large part of it. CDH1 encodes E-cadherin, a glycoprotein that plays an important part in cell-cell interaction. Loss of CDH1 function was suspected to be associated with tumorigenesis. Methylation of CDH1 promotors can alter the expression of its protein and is also considered as a contributor to various cancers. In this study, CDH1 methylation and expression profile as well as prognosis of 38 cases of eyelid SCC and the corresponding adjacent tissues were analyzed to clarify the role of CDH1 methylation in SCC carcinogenesis and prognosis. Methylation was detected by PCR, and CDH1 expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry. We observed that CDH1 methylation is significantly correlated with decreased CDH1 protein expression in eyelid SCC patients. Patients with methylation and low expression of CDH1 are significantly associated with advanced and aggressive phenotypes. Therefore, CDH1 methylation and CDH1 expression are both independent prognostic factors for prognosis of eyelid SCC patients.