Association of E-Cadherin and ö-Catenin with Clinicopathological Parameters in Primary Ovarian Surface Epithelial Carcinoma: A Hospital Based Immunohistochemical Study.

Objectives: Primary ovarian surface epithelial carcinoma (POSEC) is the fourth commonest cancer (5.85%) of women in Malaysia. It is often detected in an advanced stage due to lack of early clinical symptoms. This study was aimed to analyze the immunohistochemical expression of E-cadherin and β-catenin in POSEC and evaluated their association with age, histological subtype, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage, tumour grade, capsular invasion and peritoneal deposits. Design: This is a cross sectional (retrospective) study on 88 cases of primary ovarian surface epithelial carcinoma in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia. Methods: 88 cases of diagnosed primary ovarian surface epithelial carcinoma (POSEC) were studied. Haematoxylin and eosin stained slides were reviewed. Tissue sections obtained from archived paraffin blocks were stained immunohistochemically for E-cadherin and β-catenin and examined microscopically. Results: In 64.7% of high grade POSEC, E-cadherin and p-catenin immunoexpression were lost (p = 0.026). In 90% of high grade serous carcinoma subtype, both markers were lost (p = 0.004). In early FIGO stage (I and II), 72.2% maintained expression of one of the markers (p = 0.037) but lost both markers in 27.8% of cases. No significant association was observed between E-cadherin and β-catenin expression and age, race, capsular invasion and peritoneal deposit (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Ovarian surface epithelial carcinoma with loss of expression of E-cadherin and p-catenin tend to behave more aggressively and they have higher grade and stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]