in the last few years , prostate cancer ( pca ) has become one of the main research challenges for many medical studies . in europe alone , there are over a quarter million new cases recorded annually . on a worldwide scale , significant regional differences in the incidence of this cancer exist [ 2 , 3 ] . poland has recently experienced a significant increase in the number of men diagnosed with pca , but fortunately the number of deaths from this disease has not grown so dramatically . nevertheless , it has been estimated that in 2008 more than 3.8 thousand men died in poland because of pca . the development of pca is a multi - step process , the result of a sequence of molecular changes . the course of the disease is difficult to predict , and treatment failure is associated with the local infiltration of the gland and surrounding structures as well as distant metastases . metastases are the most common cause of death in pca [ 1 , 5 , 6 ] . the adhesion of cancer cells and their ability to migrate play a major role in formation of metastasis . a clear correlation between the level of adhesion molecules and the ability of these cells to metastasize was discovered in the mid - twentieth century [ 7 , 8 ] . the important role of -catenin associated with the cytoplasmic domain of e - cadherin for the functioning of intercellular adhesion complexes is widely known . the -catenin - cadherin complex recruits -catenin , which in turn binds the actin of the cytoskeleton . they are necessary for the creation and maintenance of epithelial cell layers by regulating cell growth and adhesion . -catenin is also responsible for transmitting the contact inhibition signal that causes cells to stop dividing once the epithelial sheet is complete . this pathway is a network of proteins best known for their roles in embryogenesis , but also their involvement in normal physiological processes in adult animals . the complex includes axin ( scaffolding protein ) , glycogen synthase kinase 3b ( gsk-3 ) , and the adenomatous polyposis coli ( apc ) protein . in the absence of the wnt - signal , the creation of the complex described above results in a substantial increase in the phosphorylation of -catenin by facilitating the action of gsk3. this leads to ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation of -catenin through the -trcp / skp complex . when wnt - signaling proteins bind their receptors , they inactivate gsk-3 , allowing -catenin to accumulate in both the cytoplasm and nucleus . within the nucleus , -catenin activates the tcf / lef transcription factors , which in turn act on genes including c - myc , tcf-1 , and cyclin d . during development , the wnt/-catenin pathway integrates signals from many other pathways including retinoic acid , fgf , tgf- , and bmp in many different cell - types and tissues . in addition , gsk-3 is also involved in glycogen metabolism and other key pathways , which has made its inhibition relevant to diabetes and neurodegenerative disorders . the participation of -catenin as a central protein in the wnt signaling pathway in the pathogenesis of many types of malignant and benign neoplasms has been a significant discovery of recent years . -catenin expression is regulated by the adenomatous polyposis coli ( apc ) gene , which can function as an oncogene . importantly , point - mutations in -catenin lead to its deregulated stabilization . mutations of the -catenin gene were detected in colonic , ovarian , pancreatic , and prostatic carcinomas as well as nonepithelial neoplasms such as synovial sarcoma , osteosarcoma , liposarcoma , and malignant fibrous histiocytoma [ 8 , 1215 ] . dysregulation of -catenin also occurs in gardner 's syndrome , where it leads to both familial adenomatous polyposis and fibromatosis . recent evidence suggests that -catenin plays an important role in various aspects of liver biology , including liver development ( both embryonic and postnatal ) , liver regeneration following partial hepatectomy , hgf - induced hepatomegaly , and pathogenesis of liver cancer . interest in the wnt / -catenin pathway in the context of therapy ( non - steroidal drugs , exisulind , vitamin a , endostatin , monoclonal antibodies , and low molecular weight inhibitors ) has resulted in an increasing number of studies indicating this complex as a crucial element in the etiology of many diseases . pharmacological inhibition of the wnt / -catenin signaling pathway can be an effective weapon in the battle against cancer by inducing apoptosis and inhibiting the proliferation of cancer cells . in normal epithelial cells , -catenin is found at the plasma membrane where it provides a mechanical linkage between cell - to - cell junctional and cytoskeletal proteins . in tumor cells , however , -catenin is often found in the cytoplasm and nucleus where it is associated with tcf family members to form a complex that activates transcription of pro - mitotic proteins . relocalization of -catenin also occurs as part of the epithelial - mesenchymal transition ( emt ) process and body axis specification , which are essential to organ development in the embryo [ 11 , 19 ] . the results of our study indicate that the presence of disorders in -catenin immunoexpression in pca cells corresponds with a high risk of death due to tumor progression and urges doctors to apply immediate and radical treatment procedures . changes in immunohistochemical staining of -catenin , in conjunction with the high value of the gleason score , appear to be a valuable prognostic parameter allowing the selection of a group of patients with aggressive forms of pca based on microscopic examination of tissue obtained from prostate biopsy . the materials were obtained by transrectal sextant core biopsy from 102 patients , who were hospitalized in the department of urology of the regional hospital in kalisz in the years 2001 - 2004 because of the suspicion of pca . core biopsies were performed according to a uniform procedure under the control of transrectal ultrasonography ( trus ) . statistical data from the hospital information system and the registry office in kalisz allowed us to establish that pca was the cause of death in 25 patients . all biopsy specimens were fixed in 4% buffered formalin solution and then embedded in paraffin according to standard procedures . serial sections ( 2 m thickness ) were used for hematoxylin and eosin staining and immunohistochemistry . the histopathological analysis of specimens was based on the following features : microscopic malignancy according to mostofi ; gleason score ; mitotic index ; volume percent of neoplastic infiltration in tissue specimen ; the presence of prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia ( pin ) in prostatic adjacent tissues ; infiltration of nerves , blood vessels and/or muscles by tumor cells ; inflammation in and around the cancer foci ; and the presence of tumor necrosis . immunohistochemical studies were performed using novocastra antibodies against -catenin ( dilution 1:300 , clone 17c2 ) according to the manufacturer 's protocol . in evaluating of the results of immunohistochemical staining in pca cells , we estimated them according to location and strength of reaction using a semi - quantitative analysis method . normal glandular epithelium from the vicinity of the cancer was used as a tissue of reference in estimating the strength of the reaction as reduced , comparable , or increased . as the reference point we established positive membrane staining when clearly visible in greater than 70% of cells . the presence of cytoplasmic staining and/or expression of cell membrane in a percentage less than 70% were qualified to the group of tumors with an impaired immunoexpression of -catenin . all data were collected in a database for statistical evaluation . a simple relationship between the investigated variables and the parameter of survival in patients with pca we used the kaplan - meier curves to assess survival differences between the groups of patients . cox proportional hazard regression statistical analysis was used to determine which of the factors significantly affect patients survival time . to assess the differences between the two groups derived from the ordinal scale we used the nonparametric mann - whitney u test , as in the case of comparing two groups with an interval scale . however , to compare more groups derived from an ordinal scale , the nonparametric kruskal - wallis test was used . gleason score greater than seven increased the risk of death by more than threefold ( rr = 3.12 ) . the kaplan - meier analysis showed a significant difference in possible survival between men suffering from pca with gleason score of seven and those with gleason score above seven ( p = 0.00048 ) . this confirms the value of the gleason score as an objective prognostic factor for pca . pin associated with the cancer was found in 64% of cases ( the dominated type was hg - pin ) . we did not notice the correlation between the occurrence or lack of pin , as well as the presence of hg - pin and survival ( p = 0.5832 ) . also , no statistical relationship was revealed with the value of gleason score ( p = 0.3025 ) . nerve infiltration was found in more than half of tumors ( 53% ) and , although the risk of death for patients with this feature increased almost twofold , we did not notice a statistical significance ( p = 0.0825 ) . there was also no significant dependence of value of gleason score ( p = 0.0687 ) . the infiltration of blood vessels was discovered in fewer cases ( 23% ) . in turn we did not show a significant correlation for neither of these microscopic changes and the risk of death of patients or gleason score . the presence of necrosis in tumor tissue and value of gleason score was significant ( p = 0.0252 ) . this feature was noted more than five times more often in poorly differentiated carcinomas ( gleason score above seven ) than in the group with moderately differentiated tumors ( gleason score 5 - 7 ) . the infiltration of muscles was disclosed in 51% of specimens , but there was no significant relationship between this parameter and patient survival ( p = 0.1339 ) . however , we found the strong correlation between value of gleason score and muscles invasion ( p = 0.0008 ) . this feature was observed in the majority of cancers with gleason score above seven ( 73% ) and in only 38% of the group with gleason score 5 - 7 . we found the mitotic index of the tumors to be highly significant when patients who died were compared with those still alive : 2.0 vs. 1.36 ( p = 0.0108 ) . also , the volume percent of tumor infiltration in the studied biopsies among the deceased patients was greater ( mean 65.6% ) than in the living ( 52.6% ) , however there was no significant correlation ( p = 0.054 ) . we also demonstrated a significant difference between the value of gleason score in terms of mitotic activity ( p = 0.0009 ) and in the volume percent of tumor infiltration ( p = 0.0028 ) . in poorly differentiated prostate tumors ( gleason score greater than seven ) , both the volume percent of tumor infiltration and the value of mitotic index were generally higher ( 67.9% vs. 48.5% , and 2.62 vs. 0.89 ) . in pca , both the localization and the intensity of -catenin immunoexpression disturbances in -catenin immunoexpression in association with the gleason score in the studied cases were characterized by a very strong statistical significance . the majority ( 94% ) of moderately differentiated pca ( gleason index 5 - 7 ) were characterized by normal immunoexpression of the tested protein . on the contrary , almost all tumors ( 97% ) in the group with a poor differentiation ( gleason 8 - 10 ) were characterized by a reduced intensity of immunohistochemical staining for -catenin compared to normal prostate epithelium ( fig . 1 ) . normal immunohistochemical staining for -catenin in prostate glandular epithelium ( magnification 200x ) . increased mortality in patients with pca was associated with significantly impaired localization and intensity of -catenin immunohistochemical expression in pca cells . the risk of death in patients with abnormal -catenin immunoexpression in the tumor ( cytoplasmic staining ) increased threefold ( rr = 3.26 ) , while the risk of death in patients with reduced intensity of immunohistochemical reaction of -catenin increased over 6-fold ( rr = 6.39 ) when compared to normal expression ( tables 1 and 2 ) . comparison of kaplan - meier analyses confirmed a significant difference in the probable survival for the group of patients with abnormal -catenin immunoexpression ( p = 0.00019 ) and with reduced -catenin immunohistochemical reaction in pca cells ( p = 0.0001 ) ( figs . 2 and 3 ) . localization of -catenin immunoreaction and patients survival intensity of -catenin immunoreaction and patients survival cox regression proportional hazard analysis for all tested parameters also revealed that the reduced intensity of -catenin immunoexpression significantly affects patients survival ( p = 0.007 ) . these patients presented with more than seven - fold higher ( 7.40x ) risk of dying from pca compared with men with normal tumor expression of this protein . thus , we consider these parameters ( the localization and intensity of -catenin immunoexpression ) as possible predictors of survival in patients with pca ( table 3 ) . 
  model of cox proportional hazards regression we showed a significant correlation ( p < 0.0001 ) between mostofi aberrant ( localization ) -catenin immunoexpression increased from 5% for g1 to 67% for g3 tumors . in the group of neoplasms with reduced immunohistochemical staining we also observed a similar trend : 15% for g1 and 88% for g3 . we noted a significant correlation between the presence of pin and aberrant staining of -catenin ( localization  p = 0.0373 ) ( intensity  p = 0.0243 ) . characteristically , tumors without accompanying pin , were most represented in the group with reduced staining and incorrect localization of -catenin . in turn , we did not detect a significant relationship between -catenin immunoexpression and nerve invasion ( p = 0.1018 and p = 0.0639 ) , blood vessels invasion ( p = 0.3506 and p = 0.2109 ) , or inflammatory reaction ( p = 0.9999 and p = 0.0213 ) . the presence of necrosis in pca was correlated with the intensity of -catenin reaction ( p = 0.0213 ) , but we did not notice the connection with aberrant localization of immunohistochemical staining ( p = 0.9999 ) . analysis of the relationship between muscles invasion on pca cells and the results of -catenin immunohistochemical staining showed a significant correlation for both , localization ( p = 0.0192 ) and intensity ( p = 0.0026 ) . infiltration of muscles was observed twice as often in the group with decreased reaction , and nearly twice as often among patients with aberrant localization of -catenin immunostaining . we also showed a significant correlation between the mitotic index ( p = 0.0079 ) , volume percent of tumor infiltration ( p = 0.0241 ) , and location of -catenin immunohistochemical staining . physiological localization of the -catenin immunoreaction was associated with a mitotic index at half of mean value of ( 1.09 vs. 2.31 ) and a lower volume of malignant invasion ( 50.3% vs. 65.3% ) compared with tumors with aberrant expression of the protein . the decreased intensity of immunohistochemical staining was associated with nearly three times higher mitotic index than the mean value ( 2.30 vs. 0.88 , p = 0.0031 ) and a highly significant volume of neoplastic infiltration in the studied biopsies ( 65.5% vs. 47.5 , p = 0.0034 ) . gleason score greater than seven increased the risk of death by more than threefold ( rr = 3.12 ) . the kaplan - meier analysis showed a significant difference in possible survival between men suffering from pca with gleason score of seven and those with gleason score above seven ( p = 0.00048 ) . this confirms the value of the gleason score as an objective prognostic factor for pca . pin associated with the cancer was found in 64% of cases ( the dominated type was hg - pin ) . we did not notice the correlation between the occurrence or lack of pin , as well as the presence of hg - pin and survival ( p = 0.5832 ) . also , no statistical relationship was revealed with the value of gleason score ( p = 0.3025 ) . nerve infiltration was found in more than half of tumors ( 53% ) and , although the risk of death for patients with this feature increased almost twofold , we did not notice a statistical significance ( p = 0.0825 ) . there was also no significant dependence of value of gleason score ( p = 0.0687 ) . the infiltration of blood vessels was discovered in fewer cases ( 23% ) . in turn we did not show a significant correlation for neither of these microscopic changes and the risk of death of patients or gleason score . the presence of necrosis in tumor tissue and value of gleason score was significant ( p = 0.0252 ) . this feature was noted more than five times more often in poorly differentiated carcinomas ( gleason score above seven ) than in the group with moderately differentiated tumors ( gleason score 5 - 7 ) . the infiltration of muscles was disclosed in 51% of specimens , but there was no significant relationship between this parameter and patient survival ( p = 0.1339 ) . however , we found the strong correlation between value of gleason score and muscles invasion ( p = 0.0008 ) . this feature was observed in the majority of cancers with gleason score above seven ( 73% ) and in only 38% of the group with gleason score 5 - 7 . we found the mitotic index of the tumors to be highly significant when patients who died were compared with those still alive : 2.0 vs. 1.36 ( p = 0.0108 ) . also , the volume percent of tumor infiltration in the studied biopsies among the deceased patients was greater ( mean 65.6% ) than in the living ( 52.6% ) , however there was no significant correlation ( p = 0.054 ) . we also demonstrated a significant difference between the value of gleason score in terms of mitotic activity ( p = 0.0009 ) and in the volume percent of tumor infiltration ( p = 0.0028 ) . in poorly differentiated prostate tumors ( gleason score greater than seven ) , both the volume percent of tumor infiltration and the value of mitotic index were generally higher ( 67.9% vs. 48.5% , and 2.62 vs. 0.89 ) . in pca , both the localization and the intensity of -catenin immunoexpression are impaired in comparison to normal prostatic epithelium . disturbances in -catenin immunoexpression in association with the gleason score in the studied cases were characterized by a very strong statistical significance . the majority ( 94% ) of moderately differentiated pca ( gleason index 5 - 7 ) were characterized by normal immunoexpression of the tested protein . on the contrary , almost all tumors ( 97% ) in the group with a poor differentiation ( gleason 8 - 10 ) were characterized by a reduced intensity of immunohistochemical staining for -catenin compared to normal prostate epithelium ( fig . 1 ) . normal immunohistochemical staining for -catenin in prostate glandular epithelium ( magnification 200x ) . increased mortality in patients with pca was associated with significantly impaired localization and intensity of -catenin immunohistochemical expression in pca cells . the risk of death in patients with abnormal -catenin immunoexpression in the tumor ( cytoplasmic staining ) increased threefold ( rr = 3.26 ) , while the risk of death in patients with reduced intensity of immunohistochemical reaction of -catenin increased over 6-fold ( rr = 6.39 ) when compared to normal expression ( tables 1 and 2 ) . comparison of kaplan - meier analyses confirmed a significant difference in the probable survival for the group of patients with abnormal -catenin immunoexpression ( p = 0.00019 ) and with reduced -catenin immunohistochemical reaction in pca cells ( p = 0.0001 ) ( figs . 2 and 3 ) . cox regression proportional hazard analysis for all tested parameters also revealed that the reduced intensity of -catenin immunoexpression significantly affects patients survival ( p = 0.007 ) . these patients presented with more than seven - fold higher ( 7.40x ) risk of dying from pca compared with men with normal tumor expression of this protein . thus , we consider these parameters ( the localization and intensity of -catenin immunoexpression ) as possible predictors of survival in patients with pca ( table 3 ) . 
  model of cox proportional hazards regression we showed a significant correlation ( p < 0.0001 ) between mostofi aberrant ( localization ) -catenin immunoexpression increased from 5% for g1 to 67% for g3 tumors . in the group of neoplasms with reduced immunohistochemical staining we also observed a similar trend : 15% for g1 and 88% for g3 . we noted a significant correlation between the presence of pin and aberrant staining of -catenin ( localization  p = 0.0373 ) ( intensity  p = 0.0243 ) . characteristically , tumors without accompanying pin , were most represented in the group with reduced staining and incorrect localization of -catenin . in turn , we did not detect a significant relationship between -catenin immunoexpression and nerve invasion ( p = 0.1018 and p = 0.0639 ) , blood vessels invasion ( p = 0.3506 and p = 0.2109 ) , or inflammatory reaction ( p = 0.9999 and p = 0.0213 ) . the presence of necrosis in pca was correlated with the intensity of -catenin reaction ( p = 0.0213 ) , but we did not notice the connection with aberrant localization of immunohistochemical staining ( p = 0.9999 ) . analysis of the relationship between muscles invasion on pca cells and the results of -catenin immunohistochemical staining showed a significant correlation for both , localization ( p = 0.0192 ) and intensity ( p = 0.0026 ) . infiltration of muscles was observed twice as often in the group with decreased reaction , and nearly twice as often among patients with aberrant localization of -catenin immunostaining . we also showed a significant correlation between the mitotic index ( p = 0.0079 ) , volume percent of tumor infiltration ( p = 0.0241 ) , and location of -catenin immunohistochemical staining . physiological localization of the -catenin immunoreaction was associated with a mitotic index at half of mean value of ( 1.09 vs. 2.31 ) and a lower volume of malignant invasion ( 50.3% vs. 65.3% ) compared with tumors with aberrant expression of the protein . the decreased intensity of immunohistochemical staining was associated with nearly three times higher mitotic index than the mean value ( 2.30 vs. 0.88 , p = 0.0031 ) and a highly significant volume of neoplastic infiltration in the studied biopsies ( 65.5% vs. 47.5 , p = 0.0034 ) . pca usually develops slowly , and direct causes of death in patients with this tumor vary , but the majority of treatment failures are associated with the dissemination of the disease and the presence of distant metastases . the cause of metastasis in pca appears to be a disorder in the structure and functioning of the molecular mechanisms responsible for cellular adhesion [ 5 , 6 , 15 ] . in the last decade , only a few articles concentrated on the results of pca studies conducted in terms of the importance of adhesion molecules and other elements of the signaling pathway of wnt / -catenins in the growth of this tumor . polish studies on this subject are also not abundant , and their results must be described as ambiguous . they demonstrated the prognostic value of impaired immunoexpression of e - cadherin and ezrin , especially in poorly differentiated cancers ( gleason score greater than seven ) . at the 40 congress of the american society of clinical oncology in new orleans , presented the results of their study of the prognostic value of low levels of -catenin immunoexpression in the nuclei of cancer cells in its early form as an independent parameter indicating a very poor prognosis for those patients whose initial prognosis seemed good and the tumor was qualified for radical surgery . assessed the expression of major disturbance in the adhesion complex components such as e - cadherin and -catenin . they examined serial sections from postoperative specimens after radical prostatectomy ( 17 for -catenin and 16 for e - cadherin ) by immunohistochemical analysis . the authors found that in poorly differentiated pca , the disorder of immunoexpression of -catenin and e - cadherin may be a useful biomarker of tumor aggressiveness . immunopositive reactions for -catenin and e - cadherin in pca were evaluated for their location and strength ( using a semi - quantitative scale ) , comparing them with normal glandular epithelium . statistical analysis was applied to the microscopic malignancy expressed in gleason score , stage of disease ( tnm ) , and results of immunohistochemical analysis . the strength of immunoreactions for -catenin and e - cadherin were decreased in pca compared with normal glandular epithelium and correlated with the increased malignancy expressed in gleason score , particularly at a ratio of greater than seven . similarly , aaltomaa et al . examined the immunohistochemical staining of -and -catenin in cancer cells and their correlation to patients survival ( observation period up to 7.3 years ) in 181 men after radical prostatectomy . they concluded that an unaffected location of the -catenin immunoreaction ( no cytoplasmic / nuclear staining ) was associated with the low clinical stage of the tumor , and a reduced strength of immunohistochemical expression of both catenins correlated with shorter patients survival . published the results of -catenin immunoexpression in 101 patients with pca and high grade pin ( hg - pin ) and compared them with normal prostate epithelium as well as 24 cases of colorectal tumors . furthermore , they studied the reactions of other proteins : cytokeratins 7 and 20 as well as psa . in 83% of samples from colorectal cancer they noted nuclear -catenin immunoreactivity , whereas membrane staining predominated in pca ( 88% ) . as for strength , they observed the reaction comparable to that of normal epithelium in 80% of pca , decreased in 4% and increased in 4% of tumors . in our study we did not find the increase in strength of reaction in any cancer and the reduction of immunoexpression was observed in a greater number of tumors ( 45% ) . the authors , however , failed to assess the relationship between outcomes and the degree of clinical progression and malignancy of the examined tumors . -catenin immunoreactivity in hg - pin was similar to that observed in normal prostate epithelium . due to the results of immunoexpression of other examined reagents , proved that there are differences in the role of the wnt/-catenin signaling pathway in the pathogenesis of prostate and colorectal cancers . in recent years , in vitro studies of pca have brought much to know about the molecular mechanism of tumor progression , including the formation of distant metastases . however , many aspects of this process remain unsolved and require further study . in locally advanced prostate tumors cell clones capable to metastasize arise , due to aberrations of structure and function of molecules involved in adhesion mechanisms , including : catenins , e - cadherin , and ezrin . van oort et al . studied the predictive value of disorders of the e - cadherin immunoexpression and molecules associated with a cadherin complex (  ,  , -catenins and p120 protein ) in pca . in 65 specimens obtained by radical prostatectomy or turp , they examined the strength of immunoexpression for each of the elements of the cadherin complex and evaluated survival curves using the kaplan - meier analysis and multivariate cox proportional hazards regression . their investigations have shown the correct expression of -catenin in 61.5% of cases , when compared to results obtained in our research ( 65% ) . a significant correlation between expressions of individual studied molecules was also confirmed . five - year survival rate of patients with impaired -catenin staining was 27.3% and it was significantly lower in comparison to the 73.1% in patients with normal immunoreaction of -catenin . as with our analysis , the difference between normal and impaired protein immunoexpression compared to survival ( log rank p < 0.0001 ) was statistically significant . however , the strength of -catenin expression proved to be a little more valuable as a prognostic factor in correlation with tumor stage and value of gleason score . multivariate analysis using proportional hazards regression revealed the predictive value for -and -catenin with slight advantage of the former . potti et al . examined specimens from 67 patients with metastatic and hormone - resistant pca , derived from the primary tumor and lymph node and bone metastases . these tissue samples were subjected to immunohistochemical analysis using antibodies against the urokinase receptor ( upar ) , wnt-1 , and -catenin . in regard to -catenin immunoexpression in the primary tumor , 34% of cancers showed the disturbed location of reaction ( 44% in our study ) , and the percentage of abnormal immunohistochemical staining increased to 77% for cancer metastasis to lymph nodes and 85% for bone metastases . the authors confirmed the prognostic usefulness of these markers and showed the direction of the therapeutic strategy by targeting gene interaction , because invasive cancer is regulated by their protein products . genes promoting tumor invasiveness encode , among others , enzymes hydrolyzing basement membrane and extracellular matrix , thereby increasing the ability of cells to migrate . recently , despite costs , studies using tissue microarrays are gaining popularity . whitaker et al . analyzed 77 specimens starting from benign prostatic hyperplasia to low , moderate , and high - grade carcinomas . they noted a gradual decline in -catenin immunoexpression with increasing malignancy of the tumors estimated by gleason score . interestingly , there were no changes in expression of -catenin in tumors treated with androgen ablation and in those without hormone therapy . the authors concluded that the decline of -catenin immunoexpression seems to be a better prognostic marker than the absolute value of its expression in pca cells . compared immunohistochemical coexpression of -catenin and e - cadherin in primary pca with metastases to bone , in association with the results from benign prostatic hyperplasia ( bph ) . they revealed a clear decrease in -catenin immunoexpression in cancer cells , as in our study . it is interesting that there are increases in the immunohistochemical reactions of both adhesion molecules in the cells obtained from bone metastases to values comparable to that observed in bph . these authors first showed an increased expression of these proteins in cancer cells from bone metastases suggesting a close relationship of these immunoexpressions with cell adhesion in metastases . it seems to be important to find a useful biological marker and a method for its identification in order to assess the aggressiveness of pca at the time of clinical diagnosis . still in the first place , is the pathological examination of the tissue obtained by prostate core biopsy , which decides the scope , nature , and even time of implementation of the clinical treatment . the results of this study suggest that -catenin is involved in pca tumorigenesis and progression . the aberrant or decreased expression of -catenin appears to be one of most promising markers of poor prognosis in localized pca . in addition , we established the survival in patients with pca depends on histopathological features , such as : the presence of necrosis , the value of mitotic index , and volume percent of tumor infiltration in transrectal core biopsy material .
introductionthe prostate cancer is difficult to predict , and treatment failure is associated with local infiltration , as well as distant metastases . 
 adhesion and migration abilities to of cancer cells play a major role in formation of metastasis . 
 the participation of -catenin in pathogene - sis of many types of cancer and benign processes has been an important discovery of recent years.material and methodsthe studied material was obtained by transrectal , sextant core biopsy from 102 patients hospitalized in department of urology , regional hospital in kalisz ( 2001 - 2004).the aim of our study was to determine the predictive value of -catenin immunoexpression in prostate cancer , to analyze the prognostic aspect of some histopathological features and finally to assess the relationship between -catenin immunoreactivity and the microscopic image of the tumor.relationships between the investigated variables were analyzed using the chi2 test of compatibility . 
 we used the kaplan - meier curves to assess survival differences between groups of patients . 
 finally we established which of the studied factors significantly affect the patient outcome , using the method of cox proportional hazard regression.resultsin prostate cancer in comparison with the normal epithelium , both the location and the strength of -catenin immunoexpression are impaired.conclusionsour results indicate that the presence of disorders in -catenin immunoexpression in prostate cancer cells indicates a high risk of death due to tumor progression and makes it imperative for immediate treatment procedures .