REVIEW

Expression of cell adhesion molecules in oesophageal carcinoma and its prognostic value

K S Nair¹, R Naidoo¹, R Chetty²

¹ Pfizer Molecular Biology Research Facility, Doris Duke Medical Research Institute, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, University of Natal, Congella 4013, Durban, South Africa
² Department of Pathology, University Health Network/Toronto Medical Laboratories and University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5G 2M9, Canada

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Professor R Chetty
University Health Network, Princess Margaret Hospital, 610 University Avenue, Fourth Floor, Suite 302, Room 312, Toronto, ON M5G 2M9, Canada; runjan.chetty{at}uhn.on.ca

Oesophageal carcinoma remains a disease of poor prognosis. Surgical cure rates are compromised by the fact that most patients are diagnosed at a late stage of disease because of the delayed onset of symptoms, by which time metastases and organ infiltration may have already occurred. Thus, invasion and metastases play a key role in influencing patient survival, and the search for novel treatments may therefore hinge on gaining insight into the mechanisms controlling these processes. It has been established that the initial step in the metastatic cascade is the detachment of tumour cells from the primary tumour via dysregulation of normal cell–cell and cell–matrix interactions. Distinct proteins known as cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) mediate these interactions. In recent years, a plethora of information has contributed to the in depth understanding of these molecules. This review provides a brief description of five families of CAMs (cadherins, integrins, CD44, immunoglobulin superfamily, and selectins) and highlights their altered expression in relation both to prognosis and tumour behaviour in squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus.

Abbreviations: APC, adenomatous polyposis coli; CAM, cell adhesion molecule; CD44s, standard isoform of CD44; CD44v, variant isoform of CD44; CEA, carcinoembryonic antigen; DCC, deleted in colon cancer; ECM, extracellular matrix; E/N/P-cadherin, epithelial/neuronal/placental cadherin; ICAM, intercellular cell adhesion molecule; Ig, immunoglobulin; MadCAM, mucosal addressin cell adhesion molecule; NCAM, neural cell adhesion molecule; OAC, oesophageal adenocarcinoma; OSCC, oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma; PECAM, platelet–endothelial cell adhesion molecule; VCAM, vascular cell adhesion molecule

Keywords: oesophageal carcinoma; cell adhesion molecules; prognosis; invasion; metastasis

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