title: CD44 as prognostic factor in oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.
abstract: This retrospective case control study was conducted to assess the prognostic value of some patient-, tumor-, treatment-related variables, and to correlate markers of primary tumor with survival and cervical metastases. Twenty-five patients with histologically proven squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity and oropharynx were analyzed. Patients were never treated before and had a minimum follow-up review of 45 months. Results show that T-stage is the most important clinical prognostic parameter. Regarding immunohistochemical markers (Ki67 and CD44), only CD44 seems to be significantly correlated with prognosis but this value showed a multicollinear effect with N upon survival. Decreased expression of CD44 correlates with a decreased survival, although increased CD44 expression was consistent with a longer survival. Therefore, it was assessed that a loss of cell adhesion, related to decreased expression of CD44, may be determinant of survival in these patients.
authors.affiliation: Maxillofacial Surgery, E.N.T. Clinic, University of Ferrara, Arcispedale S. Anna, Corso Giovecca 203, 44100 Ferrara, Italy. crc@unife.it
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Carinci
authors.forename: Giordano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Stabellini
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Calvitti
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pelucchi
authors.forename: Lorenza
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Targa
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Farina
authors.forename: Furio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pezzetti
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pastore
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018960:Hyaluronan Receptors / Q000032:analysis; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018960:Hyaluronan Receptors