title: Clinicopathological analysis of CD44 and CD24 expression in invasive breast cancer.
abstract: A subpopulation of breast cancer cells with cluster of differentiation (CD)44-positive and CD24-negative expression has been reported to have stem cell properties and to have a higher tumorigenic capacity than other cells. However, the clinicopathological characteristics of this subpopulation are not fully understood. In this study, we aimed to identify the correlations between the expression of CD44 and CD24 and clinicopathological parameters and overall survival. We studied specimens from 262 patients with invasive breast cancer. Immunohistochemical staining for CD44 and CD24 was performed using tissue microarrays. The clinicopathological factors were evaluated from the patients' medical records. In correlation analysis, CD44 expression was significantly associated with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative status (P<0.001). Conversely, CD24 expression was significantly associated with HER2-positive status (P<0.001). CD44 and CD24 expression did not demonstrate any correlation with the age, tumor size, axillary lymph node metastasis status, tumor stage, histological grade, estrogen receptor status and progesterone receptor status of patients. Upon survival analysis, there was no statistical difference in overall survival according to the expression of CD44 and CD24. The results from this study suggest that CD44 and CD24 are clinically significant markers associated with breast tumorigenesis, but not sufficient factors in determining the prognosis of invasive breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Yeungnam University Hospital, Daegu 42415, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Min Hye
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Konkuk University Hospital, Chungju 27376, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun Jong
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul 04763, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ki Seok
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul 04763, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Seung Sam
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Paik
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Konkuk University School of Medicine, Seoul 05030, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Wan Seop
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: CD44+/CD24−; HER2; breast cancer; clinicopathological characteristics; stem cell property