OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship of a protein that take part in the same mechanism of cell adhesion with the cell differentiation degree and TNM staging I and IV in CRA. METHODS: One-hundred patients (54 men and 46 women), who have received treatment for CRA, stage I - 44 patients and stage IV - 56 patients, have been studied. Histological cuts of tumor tissue were examined by the immunohistochemical technique as to the expression of E-cadherin proteins. Such histological cuts were classified as positive or negative through the semi-quantitative method. RESULTS: For TNM, the E-cadherin expression for stage I: positive in 72.7% and negative in 35.7%; stage IV: positive in 64.3% and negative in 35.7%. Regarding the cell differentiation degree, the expression of E-cadherin, GI: positive in 70% and negative in 30%; GII: positive in 68.4% and negative in 31.6%; GIII: positive in 63.6% and negative in 36.4%. There was no significant difference among the groups. CONCLUSION: The results of this research come to the conclusion that there is no relationship between the expression of E-cadherin protein with TNM staging (I and IV) and cell differentiation degree in CRA.
Cadherin; Neoplasm; Colon; Rectum; Cell cadherin
