CDH1 and neoplasm: Gofuku et al (1999) stated that reduction of α-catenin was a more sensitive and useful indicator than the reduction of E-cadherin in evaluating the potential for tumour invasion and metastasis in human colorectal cancer. However, the mechanism of E-cadherin-mediated intercellular adhesion is not fully understood yet and further study is needed in order to clarify which protein expression among E-cadherin, α-catenin, and β-catenin is most useful for diagnosis and prediction of metastasis and tumour invasion.