Different patterns of β-catenin expression in gastric carcinomas: relationship with clinicopathological parameters and prognostic outcome

Different patterns of β-catenin expression in gastric carcinomas: relationship with clinicopathological parameters and prognostic outcome Aims: The cadherin–catenin complex is known to play a critical role in maintenance of cell adhesion. Additionally β-catenin (β-ct) can also take part in signal transduction and nuclear β-ct expression could be correlated with poor prognosis in several malignancies. Since, in gastric cancer, this role of β-ct is still uncertain, we investigated the expression pattern of β-ct as well as the possible prognostic role. Methods and results: β-catenin expression was immunohistochemically investigated in a retrospective series of 401 R0-resected gastric carcinoma…