Expression of CD44 and its variant isoform v3 has no prognostic value in gastric cancer

Abstract

To study the controversial role of transmembrane glycoprotein CD44 as a moderator of tumour spread and as a prognostic factor in gastric cancer. The expression of all CD44 forms and that with exon v3 was assessed in 198 stage I‐IV gastric adenocarcinomas using immunohistochemistry. CD44 expression was found in 72% and CD44v3 in 55% of the cases. The intensity of CD44 expression was associated with the level of invasion and with hyaluronan expression, while the frequency of CD44 positive cells was not significantly related to any of the clinical or histological features of the tumours. CD44v3 expression failed to show any association with the clinical or histological variables examined. Neither total CD44 nor CD44v3 expression affected survival. The most important prognostic factors in this cohort were the level of invasion, lymph node status, tumour size and vascular or perineural invasion. Changes in CD44 or CD44v3 expression level do not predict tumour spread or patient survival in gastric cancer.

Prognostic Value of Perineural Invasion in Gastric Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…In the 24 included studies, Seventeen were based on Asian population [3], [4], [14], [17], [21]–[29], [31]–[33], [35], five were from Europe [15], [16], [18]–[20] and the other two were from America [30], [34]. A total of 30,509 patients with a median of 319.5 (ranged from 142 to 10728) were included, about two thirds were male patients.…”

“…In the seventeen studies [3], [4], [16], [18]–[23], [25]–[28], [30], [31], [34], [35] reported the effect of PNI on OS in multivariate analysis for other risk factors, eleven supported PNI was an independent factor while the other six did not. Seventeen studies including 8,551 patients reported the effect of PNI on OS in analyses adjusted for other risk factors.…”

“…No evidence for publication bias (P = 0.087 in Begg’s Test, P = 0.052 in Egger’s test) was detected (Figure 5). The pooled HR for patients in non-Asian (six studies from Europe and America) [16], [18]–[20], [30], [34] was 1.300 (95% CI = 0.935–1.808)(P = 0.119) (Figure 6). Heterogeneity was found in this group (Q = 18.96, I-squared = 73.6%, P = 0.002).…”

CD44v3 levels in primary cutaneous melanoma are predictive of prognosis: Assessment by the use of tissue microarray

“…8 Interest has focused on its possible role as an adhesion molecule involved in the malignant progression and metastatic potential of a variety of tumors. 18,[25][26][27][28] Experimental studies have demonstrated that the metastatic capacity of B16 mouse melanoma cells 29 and human melanoma cell lines 17 is enhanced by CD44H expression and this capacity can be blocked by anti-CD44 antibodies. 30 Characterization of the human CD44 gene demonstrated that it has at least 20 exons and is located on chromosome 11.…”

Expression of cell adhesion molecule CD44 in gastric adenocarcinoma and its prognostic importance

“…The expression of CD44 potentiates tumor cells to adhere to the extracellular matrix through ligands such as hyaluronan and facilitates the efficient formation of cell colonies [11,12] . The reported frequency of CD44 expression in human gastric carcinoma specimens varies widely from 31% to 72%, most likely reflecting the differences in the study population [13,14] . The intensity of CD44 expression has been reported to correlate with an increased depth of invasion [13] , although different correlations have been reported in the two histological types of this cancer.…”