Association of E-Cadherin Expression with Histological Type and Grade of Gastric Adenocarcinoma

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the immune expression of E-Cadherin in gastric adenocarcinomas and its association with tumor histological type and grade to evaluate its prognostic significance. Methodology: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences Islamabad, from December 2017 to January 2021. Eighty-one patients from both genders, aged 21 to 83 years, undergoing gastric biopsies and Gastrectomy specimens to diagnose gastric adenocarcinoma were included in our study. Immunohistochemical processing was performed and the results were interpreted by the consultant pathologist for the expression of E-cadherin on gastric adenocarcinoma. The data were analyzed with SPSS version 17. Results: There was a significant statistical association between loss of E-Cadherin with histological type of adenocarcinoma (p = 0.000). In total 81 cases, there were 53 (65%) cases of intestinal type adenocarcinoma and 28 (35%) cases of diffuse type adenocarcinoma. Of the 28 cases with diffuse type gastric Adenocarcinoma, 10 cases showed complete loss of E-Cadherin. This complete loss of Cadherin was also seen in four out of 53 cases of intestinal adenocarcinoma, all of which were poorly differentiated intestinal type of adenocarcinomas. Total cases of well differentiated type of adenocarcinoma were nine; all of these showed high expression of E-Cadherin.  Conclusion: There is a strong association of E-Cadherin expression with the histological type and grade of gastric adenocarcinoma according to Lauren’s classification. As the grade of the adenocarcinoma gets higher there is more loss of E-Cadherin expression which proves its prognostic significance. It was also established that gastric adenocarcinoma is a disease of elderly with male predominance.