Immunohistochemical Expression of E-Cadherin and β-Catenin in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

BACKGROUND: The E-cadherin/β-catenin protein complexes are actively involved in the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Alterations in cadherin or catenin expression or function, play important roles in the development of invasive or metastatic phenotypes of cancers. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess the expression of E-cadherin and β-catenin in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients and to compare this with their clinico-pathological parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study to assess the immunohistochemical expression of E-cadherin and β-catenin in 41 cases of OSCC. Data were analyzed using version 26 of SPSS software. Qualitative data were compared using chi-square statistics. Quantitative data were summarized using mean, standard deviation, and confidence interval and compared using a one-way analysis of variance test. The level of significance was set at P < 0.05. RESULTS: Overall, 95.1% of the cases had positive membrane expression for E-cadherin, while cytoplasmic staining was seen in 90.2% cases. Positive nuclear staining was seen in 46.3% cases. There was a decrease in the percentage of cytoplasmic and nuclear expression of E-cadherin as the OSCC became more poorly differentiated (χ(2) = 13.96, P = 0.016). Also, a decrease in the percentage of nuclear expression of β-catenin in poorly differentiated cases was seen. However, no statistically significant difference was seen in the expression of β-catenin between the different histologic grades (χ(2) = 4.8, P = 0.4). CONCLUSION: This study shows a reduction in the expression of E-cadherin and β-catenin as OSCC becomes less differentiated.