P‐cadherin as a prognostic indicator and a modulator of migratory behaviour in bladder carcinoma cells

OBJECTIVE To identify changes associated with P‐cadherin expression in bladder cancer and evaluate the potential role of such events in determining the clinical outcome and cell behaviour, as the function of P‐cadherin in normal epithelium is unknown, as is its potential role in neoplastic progression in different cancers. MATERIALS AND METHODS In all, 536 bladder tumour specimens from 408 patients were assembled in seven tissue microarrays. Paraffin sections from each array were processed for immunohistochemistry to assess the expression of P‐cadherin. The expression of P‐cadherin was forced using lipofectin, followed by an assessment of migration and invasion potential using standard in vitro assays. RESULTS The absence of P‐cadherin staining was associated with muscle‐invasive disease, grade 3 (P