Korean J Otolaryngol-Head Neck Surg.  2001 Sep;44(9):951-956.

Expression of CD44s, v3 and v6 in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck

• Kim SH
• Moon JH
• No HS
• Moon SW
• Shin C
• Chang HJ
• Son HR
• Choi HJ

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
CD44 is a transmembrane glycoprotein that mediates cell adhesion through binding to extracelluar matrix molecules such as hyaluronan. Multiple isoforms of CD44 are generated by alternative splicing of 10 separate exons (v1-v10). Some of them have been noted as markers for tumor metastasis and prognosis in several studies. We investigated whether CD44s, v3 and v6 may be a useful markers in the head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Paraffin embedded tissue sections, which was diagnosed as squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck from 41 patients were stained immunohistochemically with monoclonal Ab of CD44s, v3 and v6. The results were compared with the primary tumor status, lymph node metastasis, histopathologic differentiation and survival.
RESULTS
Various levels of immunoreactivities of the CD44s, CD44v3 and CD44v6 were detected dominantly in cancer cell membrane. The positive rate of CD44s, CD44v3 and CD44v6 were 59%, 66%, 71%, respectively. The decreased expression of CD44s and CD44v6 was significantly correlated to lymph node metastasis but was not affected by T-stage, histopathologic differentiation and survival. CD44v3 had no correlation with the T-stage, N-stage, pathologic differentiation nor survival.
CONCLUSION
The expression of CD44s and CD44v6 in the head and neck squamous cell carcinoma may be a biologic marker for lymph node metastasis.

Keyword

CD44 variant; Head and neck neoplasms; Biologic markers

MeSH Terms

Alternative Splicing
Biomarkers
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell*
Cell Adhesion
Cell Membrane
Exons
Glycoproteins
Head and Neck Neoplasms
Head*
Humans
Hyaluronic Acid
Lymph Nodes
Neck*
Neoplasm Metastasis
Paraffin
Prognosis
Protein Isoforms
Glycoproteins
Hyaluronic Acid
Paraffin
Protein Isoforms