Correlation of E-cadherin Immunohistochemical Expression with Histopathological Grading of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

OBJECTIVES: The current research was undertaken with an aim to correlate the expression of E-cadherin with histopathological grading in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients. Further, the objectives of the study were to evaluate the qualitative and quantitative expressions of E-cadherin in OSCC and to correlate the number of tumor cells of OSCC, immunopositive for E-cadherin with histopathological grading of OSCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Immunoexpression of E-cadherin antibody was evaluated in previously diagnosed, paraffin-embedded sections of 20 tissues each of well-differentiated and moderately differentiated OSCC, 17 tissues of poorly differentiated OSCC, and 10 tissues of normal oral mucosa; Chi-square test, analysis of variance, and Tukey's honestly significant difference test were employed for statistical analysis. RESULTS: E-cadherin immunoreactivity was inversely correlated to the loss of cell differentiation. There was a significant decrease in expression of E-cadherin (P < 0.0001) in advanced cases of OSCC. Furthermore, there was a significant reduction in intensity of E-cadherin expression with advancing histological grades of OSCC. CONCLUSION: From the present study, it is concluded that the reduced expression of E-cadherin may be a reliable indicator of increase in the invasiveness of OSCCs.