title: CD44 gene polymorphisms on hepatocellular carcinoma susceptibility and clinicopathologic features.
abstract: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in Taiwan. CD44, one of the well-known tumor markers, plays an essential role in tumor cell differentiation, invasion, and metastasis. We investigated the CD44 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with environmental risk factors related to HCC susceptibility and clinicopathological characteristics. Six SNPs of CD44 were analyzed using a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 203 patients with HCC and in 561 cancer-free controls. We determined that the individuals carrying at least one G allele at CD44 rs187115 has higher risk of developing HCC than did wild-type (AA) carriers. We further observed that the CD44 rs187115 polymorphisms with at least one G allele had a higher frequency of distribution in nonsmoking stage III/IV HCC patients, compared with wild-type carriers. Our results suggested that patients with CD44 rs187115 variant genotypes (AG+GG) were associated with a higher risk of HCC development and that these patients might possess chemoresistance, causing more likely progression to late-stage HCC than wild-type carriers without the overexpression of CD44 induced by heavy smoking. CD44 rs187115 might be involved in CD44 isoform expression of p53 stress response in HCC and provide a marker for predicting worst-case prognosis of HCC.
authors: Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, 110 Chien-Kuo North Road, Section 1, Taichung 402, Taiwan.
authors: Ying-Erh
authors: YE
authors: Chou
authors: Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, 110 Chien-Kuo North Road, Section 1, Taichung 402, Taiwan ; Cancer Research Center, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua 500, Taiwan.
authors: Ming-Ju
authors: MJ
authors: Hsieh
authors: School of Medical Laboratory and Biotechnology, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung 402, Taiwan.
authors: Hui-Ling
authors: HL
authors: Chiou
authors: Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, 110 Chien-Kuo North Road, Section 1, Taichung 402, Taiwan ; Department of Surgery, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung 402, Taiwan.
authors: Hsiang-Lin
authors: HL
authors: Lee
authors: Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, 110 Chien-Kuo North Road, Section 1, Taichung 402, Taiwan ; Department of Medical Research, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung 402, Taiwan.
authors: Shun-Fa
authors: SF
authors: Yang
authors: School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung 402, Taiwan ; Department of Internal Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung 402, Taiwan.
authors: Tzy-Yen
authors: TY
authors: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000483:Alleles; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D018960:Hyaluronan Receptors / Q000235:genetics*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012307:Risk Factors; D013624:Taiwan
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C497483:CD44 protein, human; D018960:Hyaluronan Receptors