In 66 breast cancer biopsies, the expression of the Ca(2+)-binding protein S100A4, E-cadherin, alpha- and beta-catenin was examined by immunohistochemistry, and the results were related to clinical and pathological parameters. High levels of S100A4 were found to significantly correlate with histological grade (P=0.030) and loss of oestrogen receptor (P=0.046), but not to the time interval between surgery and development of distant metastasis (P=0.51) or to patient survival (P=0.89). Loss of E-cadherin expression, associated with altered cell-cell adhesion, showed a highly significant association to overall survival (P=0.020) and metastasis-free period (P=0.0052). In multivariate analysis, only lymph node involvement was a more significant predictor of patient demise. No association was found between expression of S100A4 and any single member of the cadherin-catenin complex, but a trend (P=0.053) towards reduced expression of one or several of these proteins and S100A4 immunoreactivity was observed. In conclusion, although our results suggest an association between S100A4 expression and an aggressive tumour phenotype, no relationship to overall survival was found. Deregulation of E-cadherin expression, however, was of high prognostic significance.