The simultaneous expression of both ephrin B3 receptor and E-cadherin in Barrett`s adenocarcinoma is associated with favorable clinical staging

Simultaneous expression of Eph B3 and E-cadherin was investigated in samples from 141 patients with Barrett’s carcinoma and from 20 healthy esophagi using immunhistology and quantitative PCR. Results from healthy squamous epithelium, Barrett’s metaplasia and staging-specific esophageal adenocarcinoma were correlated.A significantly reduced E-cadherin mRNA expression could be detected in adenocarcinoma compared to dysplasia. The immunhistological activity of E-cadherin and Eph B3 was reduced in adenocarcinoma compared to dysplasia or healthy esophageal mucosa. The intracellular E-cadherin distribution changed significantly from the cytoplasm to the membrane, when the Eph receptor was simultaneously expressed. Simultaneous expression of E-cadherin and Eph B3 showed a significant inverse correlation to tumor stage.We present novel evidence of the tumor suppressor activity of Eph B3 in esophageal adenocarcinoma possibly due to the impact on redistribution of cellular E-cadherin to the membrane. Our results suggest that this effect might play a role in the dysplasia-adenocarcinoma sequence, the infiltrative growth pattern and the development of lymph node metastases.Esophageal adenocarcinoma is a very aggressive cancer with a dismal five-year overall survival rate of only 20% [1-3]. These poor survival rates are due to the advanced stage of esophageal cancer at the time of diagnosis [3-5]. Even patients with early disease (for example, with a T1b-category) have lymph node metastases in up to 20% of the cases. This is known to be a strong prognostic factor for long term survival [4]. E-cadherin and Ephrin B3 receptor (Eph B3) are both transmembrane proteins that play key roles in tumorigenesis and infiltrative growth pattern with lymph node or distant metastases.Primarily, E-cadherin and Eph B3 have been described for cell sorting, navigation and migration in embryology [6-9]. In the nervous system and the gastrointestinal tract, Ephrin receptor tyrosine kinases and their