Soluble E-cadherin is a valid prognostic marker in gastric carcinoma. Issue 6 (1st June 2001)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chan, A O O; Lam, S K; Chu, K M; Lam, C M; Kwok, E; Leung, S Y; Yuen, S T; Law, S Y K; Hui, W M; Lai, K C; Wong, C Y; Hu, H C; Lai, C L; Wong, J
• Is Part Of: Gut. Volume 48:Issue 6(2001)
• Page Start: 808
• Page End: 811
• Publication Date: 2001-06-01
• Subjects: E-cadherin -- gastric cancer -- tumour marker; Gastroenterology -- Periodicals; 616.33
• DOI: 10.1136/gut.48.6.808
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0017-5749

Abstract

Abstract : BACKGROUND: Gastric cancer remains a major cause of cancer mortality globally but no good prognostic tumour marker is available. Soluble fragment of E-cadherin protein has been reported to increase in the sera of patients with cancer and recently was found to be elevated in 67% of patients with gastric cancer. AIMS: To investigate if serum soluble E-cadherin is a valid prognostic marker in gastric cancer. METHODS: Concentrations of soluble E-cadherin from 116 patients with histologically confirmed gastric adenocarinoma and 40 healthy subjects were measured using an immunoenzymometric method with a commercially available sandwich ELISA kit based on monoclonal antibodies. RESULTS: The logarithm of the means of soluble E-cadherin concentration was significantly higher in patients with gastric cancers (mean 3.85 (SD 0.28)) than in healthy subjects (3.71 (0.18)) (p=0.001), and in palliative/conservatively treated cancers (3.91 (0.35)) than in operable cancers (3.78 (0.19)) (p=0.015). The logarithm of the concentrations correlated with tumour size (p=0.032) and carcinoembryonic antigen concentrations (p=0.001). The cut off value calculated from discriminant analysis on operability and inoperability/palliative treatment was 7025 ng/ml. Soluble E-cadherin concentrations higher than this cut off value predicted tumour (T4) depth invasion (p=0.020, confidence interval (CI) 1.008–1.668) and palliative/conservative treatment (p=0.023, CI 1.038–2.514). In contrast, the relative risks for lymph node (N2) metastasis, distant metastasis, and stage III/IV disease were 1.41, 1.33, and 1.55 respectively, despite not reaching statistical significance. CONCLUSION: Serum soluble E-cadherin is a potential valid prognostic marker for gastric cancer. A high concentration predicts palliative/conservative treatment and T4 invasion.