2009 Volume 30 Issue 2 Pages 79-86
Extrahepatic bile duct carcinoma is one of the most extremely aggressive cancers with poor prognosis after curative resection. Syndecan-1 and E-cadherin are transmembrane glycoproteins, and have important roles in cell-cell adhesion and tumor progression. In this study, we examined 84 surgically resected cases of extrahepatic bile duct adenocarcinoma to clarify clinicopathological significance of syndecan-1/E-cadherin expression. Reduced expressions of syndecan-1 and Ecadherin were found in 69.0% (58/84) and 46.4% (39/84) of the bile duct carcinomas. Reduced syndecan-1 expression was correlated with lymphatic/venous/nervous invasion (P < 0.0001), and was associated with short overall survival (P = 0.0002). Reduced E-cadherin expression was correlated with lymphatic and nervous invasion (P = 0.008, P < 0.0001, respectively), and was associated with short overall survival (P = 0.0038). The results indicated that reduced syndecan-1/E-cadherin expression may be good indicators of recurrence and prognosis in extrahepatic bile duct carcinoma.
