Immunohistochemical analysis of beta-catenin, E-cadherin and p53 in canine gastrointestinal epithelial tumors

Wnt/beta-catenin signaling, E-cadherin and p53 reportedly play important roles in the development and/or progression of human gastrointestinal cancer. The present study evaluated the roles of beta-catenin, E-cadherin and p53 in canine gastrointestinal tumors. Endoscopic biopsy or surgically resected samples, a total of 131, including 38 gastric, 13 small intestinal and 80 large intestinal tumors, were obtained from 95 dogs. Those specimens were examined pathologically. Immunohistochemically, nuclear beta-catenin expression was found in 88% (42/48) of polypoid type adenocarcinomas. Most cases of non-polypoid type adenocarcinomas lacked nuclear expression of beta-catenin with the exception of one case (6%, 1/17). Nuclear beta-catenin expression was not observed in signet ring cell carcinomas (0/15), mucinous adenocarcinomas (0/7) and undifferentiated carcinomas (0/4). The findings indicate that nuclear translocation of beta-catenin is closely related to the development of polypoid type adenocarcinomas but not that of non-polypoid type malignant tumors. The immunoreactivity of E-cadherin for tumor cells tended to decline overall in most of cases including benign tumors. Significant immunoreactivity for p53 was not found in 61% of tumors examined (80/131), including malignant tumors (63%, 57/91), while intense p53-immunoreactivity was rarely found in a few cases of malignant tumors (8%, 7/91). We could not conclude clearly significant correlations between histopathological tumor types and immunohistochemical results of E-cadherin or p53. This paper indicates the importance of the nuclear translocation of beta-catenin for the tumorigenesis of canine intestinal polypoid type adenocarcinomas, especially in the colorectum.