title: Clinicopathological significance of expression of CD44 variants in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
abstract: Splice variants of the cell surface glycoprotein CD44 have been reported to be associated with the progression of various human tumors. The aim of this study is to determine the correlation between the expression of CD44 isoforms, especially CD44 variant 2 (CD44v2), and the clinicopathological features of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs). The expression of CD44 isoforms was evaluated immunohistochemically in paraffin-embedded tissues from 89 primary lesions, using monoclonal antibodies against CD44 standard (CD44st), CD44 variant 6 (CD44v6) and CD44v2. Cancer tissues from 89 (100%), 85 (95.5%) and 59 (66.3%) patients showed positive immunoreactivity for CD44st, CD44v6 and CD44v2, respectively. A significant correlation was observed between the down-regulation of CD44v2 and poorer differentiation of the tumor cells (P = 0.02). We could not find any significant correlation between the expression of CD44v2 and T stage or N stage (lymph node status). However, the rate of positive cervical lymph node metastasis tended to increase with reduced expression of CD44v2 (P = 0.08). Down-regulation of CD44v2 expression was correlated with shorter overall survival (P = 0.01). Furthermore, Cox's multivariate analysis revealed that only CD44v2 expression and lymph node status were independent prognostic factors. These findings suggest that down-regulation of CD44v2 expression may be one of the biological markers for the degree of malignancy in HNSCCs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Keio University School of Medicine, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kanke
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kameyama
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kanzaki
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tokumaru
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Imanishi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tomita
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsumura
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000737:chemistry / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D018960:Hyaluronan Receptors / Q000032:analysis* / Q000502:physiology; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D018960:Hyaluronan Receptors