Our results suggest that disturbances in the distribution of beta-catenin and E-cadherin might affect the morphology ofACC and that a small fraction of cases of ACC are characterized by a mutation in the beta-catenin gene, which is associated with the nuclear accumulation of the product of this gene but does not affect the transcription of the gene for cyclin-D1.
In this study, the expressions of Rb, p16INK4A, and cyclin D1 alternations were analyzed by immunohistochemical assay in 5 specimens of normal salivary glands and twenty-two cases of adenoid cystic carcinomas (ACC).