[Correlation among expression of CD44, DNA content and apoptosis in female adenocarcinoma of the lung].
BACKGROUND
Cluster of differentiation 44 (CD44) is a family of transmembrane glycoproteins. As cell surface hyaluronate receptor, it has been found to be widely expressed in a variety of cells. The aim of this study is to assess the relationship among CD44 expression, DNA content, proliferation index (PI) and apoptosis in female adenocarcinoma of the lung.


METHODS
The expression of CD44, DNA index (DI), PI and apoptotic rate were studied in 61 cases of female adenocarcinoma of the lung, paracancerous tissues and 45 cases of benign lesions by flow cytometry.


RESULTS
The percent of DNA aneuploidy was 75.41% in adenocarcinoma. The expression of CD44, DI and PI in adenocarcinoma were significantly higher than those in paracancerous and benign controls (P < 0.01), however the apoptotic rate was obviously lower in adenocarcinoma than that in paracancerous and benign controls (P < 0.01). There was a positive correlation between CD44 and DI (P < 0.01), and a negative correlation between apoptosis and DI in adenocarcinoma (P < 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
The expression of CD44, DNA content, proliferation and apoptosis may play important regulating roles in oncogenesis, development and metastasis of female adenocarcinoma of the lung.
Department of Epidemiology, China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning 110001, P.R.China.
Xiaoxia
X
Xue
Ying
Y
Zhang
Donghua
D
Jiang
Qincheng
Q
He
Zeshi
Z
Cui
Baosen
B
Zhou