The prognostic value of adhesion molecule CD44v6 in women with primary breast carcinoma: a clinicopathologic study.
OBJECTIVE
CD44 functions as an adhesion molecule. Within the family of CD44 isoforms, the spliced variant 6 has been causally associated with the development of metastases and poor prognosis in animal models and several human cancers. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of CD44v6 in women with primary breast carcinoma.


METHODS
The women with primary breast carcinoma in this study were followed up clinically for a period of 5 years. Clinicopathologic features, including tumour size, axillary nodal status, histological grade and pTNM stage, were determined for a cohort of 78 women presenting with primary breast carcinoma. Standard immunohistochemistry was used to explore CD44v6 expression. The data obtained were analysed by univariate and multivariate analyses.


RESULTS
Forty-three out of 78 (55%) women with breast carcinoma were CD44v6-positive (i.e. over 5% of tumour cells exhibited positive staining). Significant sequential increase of CD44v6 expression was observed in women with metastases of axillary nodes, tumour size more than 2 cm, advanced pTNM stage and survival period less than 5 years. Univariate analysis showed that axillary nodal status, primary tumour size, histological grade, and pTNM stage were associated with 5-year survival, and CD44v6 expression was associated with primary tumour size, axillary nodal status, pTNM stage and 5-year survival. In multivariate analysis, using the Cox-regression model, CD44v6 expression was not an independent prognostic factor.


CONCLUSIONS
CD44v6 expression was correlated with tumour size, metastases of axillary nodes, pTNM stage, and 5-year survival; however, multivariate analysis revealed that CD44v6 expression failed to be an independent predictor of patient prognosis.
Cancer Center, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA. mawenxue@hotmail.com
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Ma
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Deng
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Zhou
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D018960:Hyaluronan Receptors / Q000032:analysis* / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D016019:Survival Analysis
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018960:Hyaluronan Receptors