E-cadherin expression in Barrett's esophagus and esophageal carcinoma

Introduction In multicellular organisms the development of adhesion bonds either among cells or among cells and components of the extracellular matrix is a crucial process. These interactions are mediated by molecules, named adhesion molecules. Their molecular and genetic structure, their biochemical role and their functional characteristics are nowadays clearly determined. At present, adhesion molecules embrace five categories: cadherins, integrins, immunoglobulin gene superfamily members, selectins and CD44. Cadherins are the most interesting group among all adhesion molecules, given the fact that at their presence all adhesion interactions may be continued, despite the potential absence of all of the remainder of the adhesion molecule groups. Cadherins apart from playing a crucial role in tissue architecture formation and maintenance in adult animals and humans, they play an equal importance role in tissue architecture alteration/distortion. This latter role is unambiguous nowadays and the most extensively studied paradigm occurs in carcinogenesis. E-cadherin down-regulation is a general phenomenon observed in many malignant lesions in humans including head and neck, esophageal, gastric, colorectal, pancreatic, primary liver, prostate, and bladder cancer, as well as in pre-malignant lesions including Barrett's esophagus, and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. Materials and methods Review article. Conclusion In this review we try to elucidate the expression of E-cadherin and related molecules in Barrett's esophagus as well as in malignant lesions of the esophagus like adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.