© American Society for Clinical Pathology Anatomic Pathology / ADHESION MOLECULES AND BLADDER CANCER Expression of E-Cadherin and α-, β-, γ-Catenins in Patients With Bladder Cancer Identification of γ-Catenin as a New Prognostic Marker of Neoplastic Progr

A b s t r a c t Loss of intercellular adhesion facilitates tumor invasion. To clarify the relation between altered expression of cell adhesion molecules and progression of T1 superficial bladder tumors, 101 cases (71 T1 tumors, 30 T2/T3 tumors) were examined immunohistochemically for E-cadherin and α-, β-, and γ-catenins. A highly significant correlation was observed between the decreased expression of all molecules and increased TNM stage (P <.001). Univariate analysis, performed in cases of T1 tumors, revealed association of abnormal E-cadherin with β-catenin diminution. Survival curves were established with the Kaplan-Meier method and analyzed according to clinical and histopathologic parameters using th