E-cadherin and c-Met expression in actinic cheilits and lip squamous cell carcinoma

objective: the aim of this study was to assess epithelial expression of e-cadherin and c-met in normal lip, in actinic cheilitis and lip squamous cell carcinoma. study design: biopsies of normal lip vermillion (nl, n=18), actinic cheilitis (ac, n=37), and lip scc (n=22) were processed for e-cadherin and c-met immunodetection. epithelial and tumor cell expression was scored for each sample considering staining intensity and percentage. results: e-cadherin expression was significantly reduced in ac and lip scc as compared to normal lip (p<0.05), with a significant reduction in lip scc as compared to ac (p=0.003). expression of c-met was significantly higher in ac and lip scc as compared to nl (p<0.05), with a significant increase in lip scc as compared to ac (p<0.0001). conclusion: the results showed that epithelial e-cadherin expression is reduced and c-met expression is increased as lip carcinogenesis progresses, suggesting that these proteins may be useful markers of malignant transformation.