title: Predictive value of CD24 and CD44 for neoadjuvant chemotherapy response and prognosis in primary breast cancer patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We investigated the significance of CD24 and CD44 expression for predicting responses to chemotherapy and prognosis in primary breast cancer patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Diagnosis of breast cancer was confirmed by core needle biopsy, and immunohistochemical studies were performed. Preoperatively, patients received anthracycline-containing chemotherapy. Expression of CD44 and CD24 was assessed immunohistochemically and the relationship with chemotherapy response and with prognosis was analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Between 2001 and 2004, 139 women were enrolled in this study. In the correlation analysis, CD24 expression was negatively associated with pathological response to chemotherapy (p = 0.0003). A machine learning technique with an alternating decision tree (ADTree) showed that four logical rules are involved in predicting the response depending on the combination of CD24, HER2, tumor stage, CD44, progesterone receptor, and patient age. In the survival analysis, patients having CD44 (++) showed a significantly favorable prognosis as compared with others (p = 0.0002). A multivariate analysis showed that CD44 expression had an independent prognostic value (p < .0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found a significant correlation between CD44 expression and prognosis and between CD24 expression and response to chemotherapy. CD24 and CD44 expressions would be useful predictive markers, although further studies are needed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Pathology, Tokyo Medical and Dental University Graduate School, Tokyo, Japan. kazumito@cick.jp
authors.forename: Kazumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Horiguchi
authors.forename: Masakazu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Toi
authors.forename: Shin-Ichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Horiguchi
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sugimoto
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Naito
authors.forename: Yukiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ueno
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ohno
authors.forename: Nobuaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Funata
authors.forename: Katsumasa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kuroi
authors.forename: Masaru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tomita
authors.forename: Yoshinobu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Eishi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000188:drug therapy*; D051927:CD24 Antigen / Q000032:analysis; D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000737:chemistry / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003663:Decision Trees; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018960:Hyaluronan Receptors / Q000032:analysis; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D016015:Logistic Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D020360:Neoadjuvant Therapy; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011300:Preoperative Care; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D051927:CD24 Antigen; D018960:Hyaluronan Receptors