RESUMO
Aim Epithelial cadherin or E-cadherin is a cell adhesion molecule that is present in all cells to promote integrity and survival of the cells. The aim of this study was to assess the immunohistochemical staining pattern of E-cadherin in hyperplastic endometrium. Methods A total of 25 blocks of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues of endometrial biopsies, from September 2020 to May 2023, were obtained from the Department of Pathology, Saveetha Medical College. Out of these 25 histologically proven cases of endometrial hyperplasia (EH), 17 cases were of EH without atypia and 8 cases were of endometrial hyperplasia with atypia (AH, or atypical hyperplasia). Results The immunohistochemical examination revealed that E-cadherin expression was downregulated in both EH without atypia and AH. But the downregulation was more pronounced in cases of AH than in EH without atypia. This was confirmed by the comparison of E-cadherin expression between EH with and without atypia by a chi-square test, which showed a p-value of 0.05 and was proven significant. Conclusion The heterogeneous expression of E-cadherin can be attributed to the impairment of cadherin-catenin complex. This impairment is seen in AH as well as EH without atypia. This shows this impairment occurs very early in the transformation process of the endometrium from hyperplastic to neoplastic.