EXPRESSION OF E- CADHERINE IN CANINE MAMMARY TUMORS

Abstract

Reduction of expression of E-cadherin in canine mammary tumors has been correlated with invasive behavior, lymph node metastases and shorter survival period after tumor removal. The aim of this study was to examine the expression of E-cadherin in canine benign and malignat mammary tumors with different grade of malignancy. 38 canine mammary tumors were studied. In general, the percentage of positive stained cells was bigger in benign neoplasia and carcinomas with grade of malignancy The expression of E-Cadherin decreased with growth of the grade of malignancy. Among the groups of tumors of different grade of malignancy, statistical significant loss of expression of E-Cadherin was detected between benign lesions and carcinomas grade of malignancy II (p˂ 0,01), and between benign lesions and carcinomas III grade of malignancy (p˂ 0,01).