Immunoexpression of E-cadherin and VEGF-A proteins in various degrees of histologic malignancies of adenoid cystic carcinoma of salivary glands

Fifty-one patients with adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) arising in salivary glands were studied retrospectively. This carcinoma is the most common salivary gland malignancy, it grows slowly, but is aggressively invasive, and easily metastasis. Three histologic grades were established; although these histologic growth patterns provide some indicators of clinical outcome additional predictors of biological activity were proven to be helpful for clinical management of the patient. The purpose of this study was to analyze the alteration of immune expression of E-cadherin adhesion protein and vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) protein in salivary gland ACC which was correlated with the degree of histopathological signs of malignancy based on the growth pattern type of ACC. A cross-sectional study was performed on 51 paraffin blocks from patients with ACC salivary gland, retrospectively. The examination began with a histopathological examination slide to diagnose the case of salivary gland ACC and to get data of the degree of histopathological signs of malignancy based on the growth pattern type of ACC. Subsequently, an immunohistochemistry examination of E-cadherin and VEGF-A was undertaken. The decrease or total absence of E-cadherin expression followed by the increase of VEGF-A expression had a very significant correlation with the increasing degree of histological malignancy (p<0.001) and had a probability of 81% of becoming a high malignancy of ACC. In conclusion, E-cadherin and VEGF-A were able to be used as markers for tumor to predict the prognosis of malignancy in adenoid cystic carcinoma of the salivary gland.