Expression profile of N-cadherin differs from other classical cadherins as a prognostic marker in renal cell carcinoma.

Renal cell carcinomas (RCCs) primarily express cadherin-6 and N-cadherin rather than E-cadherin, and the aberrant expression of cadherin-6 correlates with a poor prognosis in patients with E-cadherin-absent RCC. However, the role of N-cadherin in RCC has not yet been elucidated. In this study, we analyze the expression pattern of N-cadherin in surgical RCC specimens and discuss the function of N-cadherin in RCC together with a re-evaluation of our previous study. Forty-six surgically resected RCC specimens were used in this study. The expression and localization of E-cadherin and N-cadherin in surgical specimens were demonstrated by immunohistochemistry. Correlations between the expression pattern of each cadherin, pathological parameters and patient survival were analyzed. RCC specimens expressed N-cadherin as a normal pattern despite the elevation of tumor grade, and patients with N-cadherin-normal RCC had a poorer prognosis than those with N-cadherin-abnormal RCC. Since our previous study showed that N-cadherin only functioned in cell attachment when E-cadherin and cadherin-6 were impaired, N-cadherin plays a different role from E-cadherin or cadherin-6 in RCC and may be associated with the aggressiveness and malignant potential of RCC.