The status of E-cadherin expression in papillary thyroid carcinoma and it's relationship with prognostic factors

Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine malignancy; and papillary carcinoma is the most common thyroid cancer. There are different biologic markers which are used for prognosis determination one of which is a cell binding molecule، E-cadherin.. The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of E-cadherin expression in papillary thyroid cancer and its relation with gender، tumor size، and lymph nodes involvement. This study was performed on 73 tissue samples from patients with papillary thyroid cancer who referred to Mostafa Khomeini Hospital in Tehran، Iran (2005- 2008). The method of staining for determination of E-cadherin expression was immunohistochemistry. We evaluated the size of tumor، lymph nodes involvement، and their relation with E-cadherin expression. The mean age was 41. 85± 16. 65 years. 67% of samples were positive for E-cadherin and 21. 9% had lymph nodes involvement. The mean size of patients’ tumor was 3. 86± 2. 38 cm. There was not any significant relationship between E-cadherin expression and tumor size and gender but there was a significant and reverse relationship between E-cadherin expression and lymph nodes involvement (P<0. 05). Concerning of the role of the E-cadherin in patient prognosis، it seems that as proportion of E-cadherin decreases in tumor cells، the probability of lymph nodes involvement increases. More studies in this area with patients’ follow-up are recommended.