The extracellular domain of E cadherin linked to invasiveness in colorectal cancer: a new resistance and relapses monitoring serum-bio marker?

PURPOSE: Multiple studies have attempted to demonstrate the interest of the cell adhesion marker, E cadherin, as a diagnostic and prognosis marker in colorectal cancer (CRC). However, it was considered non specific. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Studies were carried out with CRC cell lines and patients' cohort operated for CRC. The expression of E cadherin was studied after 5 fluorouracil (5FU) treatment and correlated to CRC relapse, chemo-resistance and survival. RESULTS: In CRC cell lines derived from high tumor stages, extracellular domain of E cadherin expression decreased after 5FU treatment whereas it increased in supernatants. Interestingly, only specific cleaved forms at 55 kDa of E cadherin were detected in supernatants. In CRC surgical patients, more importantly concerning extracellular E cadherin domain, a decreased expression was observed in tissues in function of CRC stages whereas an increased expression was found in sera. Moreover, there is an increasing trend of survival with weak serum E cadherin secretion, reinforcing the implication of this protein in CRC evolution. DISCUSSION: The extracellular domain can be defined as a 5FU resistance marker and allow CRC monitoring.