title: Clinical significance of CD44s, CD44v3 and CD44v6 in breast cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate levels of CD44 standard variant (CD44s), CD44 variant exon 3 (CD44v3) and CD44 variant exon 6 (CD44v6) protein in breast cancer tissue, and investigate their relationships with clinicopathological characteristics of the disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  Immunohistochemistry for CD44s, CD44v3 and CD44v6 was retrospectively performed on formalin-fixed paraffin wax-embedded breast cancer tissue samples.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Tumour tissue samples from 60 patients with breast cancer were included. There was a significant relationship between CD44s positivity and tumour diameter and lymph node involvement. CD44v6 positivity was significantly associated with tumour-node-metastasis (TNM) stage and lymph node involvement. There were significant negative correlations between CD44s immunopositivity, tumour diameter and TNM stage, and significant positive correlations between CD44v6 immunopositivity, tumour diameter and TNM stage.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CD44s and CD44v6 appear to play opposing roles in the development of breast cancer, but their precise functions and mechanisms of action remain unclear.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China Department of Radiation Oncology, The First People's Hospital of Xuzhou, Xuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Jin
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Dong
authors.initials: XD
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Hanze
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Oncology, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Xiaofei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China.
authors.forename: Zhong-Hua
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Ning
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Yong-Mei
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China dryetian@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Ye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tian
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018960:Hyaluronan Receptors / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000378:metabolism; D047368:Tumor Burden
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C497483:CD44 protein, human; D018960:Hyaluronan Receptors; D020033:Protein Isoforms
keywords: Breast cancer; CD44; adhesion molecule; clinical significance; immunohistochemistry