E-cadherin, CD44 and CD44v6 in squamous epithelial lesions of the uterine cervix

Alterations in expression and function of E-cadherin and CD44 proteins have been found in many cancers correlating with neoplastic transformation, tumor progression, lymph node metastases and poor prognosis in patients. This study evaluated the immunoexpression of E-cadherin, CD44 and one CD44 variant CD44v6 in 124 human cervical paraffin embedded samples. Membranous expression of E-cadherin, CD14 and CD44v6 was preserved in normal squamous epithelia and low grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (SIL), while a characteristic loss of membranous and presence of cytoplasmic staining of these molecules was seen in high grade lesions and invasive squamous cell carcinomas, relating to loss of differentiation as a consequence of neoplastic transformation into carcinoma of the uterine cervix.