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Objective To explore the predictive value of the expression of CD44v6 and EGFR on the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) in stageⅡ-Ⅲ cervical cancer. Methods A total of 53 patients with stageⅡ-Ⅲ cervical cancer diagnosed by pathology were selected. All patients received two cycles of paclitaxel+platinum NACT. The pathological tissue samples of cervical tumors before NACT treatment were collected. The expression of CD44v6 and EGFR were detected by the immunohistochemical SP method, and we analyzed their predictive value of NACT in stageⅡ-Ⅲ cervical cancer. Results Among the 53 patients, 38 were in the NACT effective group (CR+PR), and 15 were in the NACT ineffective group (SD+PD). The expression of CD44v6 in the ineffective group was significantly higher than that in the effective group (P < 0.05). The expression of CD44v6 was significantly different in patients with CR, PR, and SD (P < 0.05). The AUC of CD44v6 to NACT effect on stage Ⅱ-Ⅲ cervical cancer was 0.74 (P < 0.05). The patients in the high expression group of CD44v6 had worse efficacy in NACT than those in the low expression group of CD44v6 (P < 0.05). Pearson test showed that CD44v6 and EGFR expression were correlated (R=0.34, P < 0.05). Conclusion High expression of CD44v6 may reduce the efficacy of NACT in stageⅡ-Ⅲ cervical cancer, suggesting that the expression of CD44v6 has a certain predictive value and clinical significance in the efficacy of paclitaxel+platinum NACT on cervical cancer. Moreover, CD44v6 is positively correlated with EGFR expression.
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Objective To evaluate the prognostic value of combined examination of pre-operative carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and CD44v6 for colorectal cancer patients. Methods A total of 140 patients with complete clinical data pathologically diagnosed as colorectal cancer from December 2012 to December 2017 in Hainan Hospital of PLA General Hospital were enrolled. Finally, 69 validated cases excluding CEA (-) or CD44v6(-) patients were registered according to pre-operative CEA detection and immunohistochemistry results of CD44v6. Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze the progression-free survival (PFS) time for single factors. Multiple-factor analysis was done by using Cox proportional hazard model. Results Sixty-nine patients included 29 cases of double positive and 40 cases of double negative in CEA and CD44v6. There were statistical significances of the expressions of double positive and double negative in patients with different gender, M stage, TNM stage. Double positive was more apparent in female (χ2 = 4.42, P= 0.04), presenting of metastasis (χ2=5.06, P=0.02) and advanced cases (χ2=4.38, P= 0.04); univariable analysis showed the N stage (P=0.00), M stage (P=0.00), TNM stage (P=0.00) and double positive/double negative in CEA and CD44v6 (P= 0.04) were likely to affect the PFS, however, multivariable analysis showed that N stage (HR= 0.15, 95 ％ CI: 0.03-0.86, P= 0.03), TNM stage (HR= 23.83, 95 ％ CI: 3.65-155.51, P=0.00) were the independent prognostic factors for PFS. PFS in double positive patients was shorter than that in double negative ones [24.0 months (3-84) vs. 31.0 months (8-94), P=0.04]. Conclusion Pre-operative combined examination of CEA and CD44v6 could be helpful in judging the prognosis for colorectal cancer patients.
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Colorectal cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors,early diagnosis and treatment are the important factors affecting colorectal cancer's prognosis.It has been proved that colorectal cancer's diagnosis combined with biomolecular markers is non-invasive,economical and specific at the same time,biomarkers are valuable in predicting and monitoring the chemoresistance of colorectal cancer.This article mainly reviews the prediction of liver metastasis of colorectal cancer,drug resistance of postoperative chemotherapy in colorectal cancer and the monitoring of drug resistance in the course of chemotherapy by CD44v6.
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Objective To analyze the expression level of CD44v6 in small cell lung cancer and the concentration of vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) in serum,to explore the clinical significance of them in small cell lung cancer.Methods The expression level of CD44v6 was detected by immunohistochemical methods in 80 cases of small cell lung cancer as patients group,who were treat in People''s Hospital of Jiangyin from January 2014 to January 2016.Another 80 cases of healthy subjects as control group.Used ELISA method to detect the concentration of VEGF of the two groups of patients in the blood.Analyzed the relationship between VEGF,CD44v6 with the survival time of patients.Results The CD44v6 expression in small cell lung cancer was positive in 6 cases,the total positive expression rate was 7.5%.The serum levels of VEGF in patients group((490.9±342.7) ng/L) was significantly different from that in the control group((180.8±67.5) ng/L),and the difference was statistically significant(P=0.024).There was no correlation between the survival time and the expression of CD44v6 in small cell lung cancer(P=0.723).The survival time of small cell lung cancer was negatively correlated with the concentration of VEGF in serum.Conclusion There is a significant correlation between serum VEGF concentration and survival time in patients with small cell lung cancer,which is one of the prognostic factors in patients with small cell lung cancer.
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Objective To investigate the relationship between adhesion molecule CD44v6,intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and lymph node metastasis in early stage of cervical squamous cell carcinoma.Methods Seventy-four specimens of cervical cancer stage Ⅰ b1,20 specimens of normal cervical tissue and 20 specimens of cervical squamous cell in situ carcinoma were collected from Jiangxi Provincial Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital.The expression of CD44v6 and ICAM-1 in cervical tissue was detected by real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry.The lymphatic vessel density (LVD) labeled by D2-40 was detected by immunohistochemistry.The relationship of CD44v6,ICAM-1 and LVD with the differentiation degree and lymph mode metastasis was investigated.Results The positive expression rate of CD44v6 and ICAM-1 in normal cervix,cervical squamous cell carcinoma in situ,and cervical carcinoma tissues was gradually increased,which were 0,75.00％,87.84％ and 10.00％,45.00％,81.08％ respectively.Their mRNA expression amount was gradually increased,which were 0,0.24±0.02,1.02±0.11 and 0.10 ± 0.00,0.19±0.02,1.03 ± 0.10 respectively,the differences were statistically significant (P＜0.01).LVD was gradually increased in normal cervix,cervical squamous cell carcinoma in situ,and cervical carcinoma (P＜0.01).The expression of CD44v6,ICAM-1 and LVD in low differentiated cervical carcinoma tissue was higher than that in high and middle differentiated cervical carcinoma (P＜0.01).The expression of CD44v6,ICAM-1and LVD in lymph node metastasis was higher than that in non-lymph node metastasis (P＜0.01).The expression of CD44v6,ICAM-1 and LVD in cervical cancer tissue had each two positive correlation (P＜0.01).Conclusion CD44v6 plays a promoting role in the progression of cervical cancer,which with ICAM-1 and LVD synergically promote the cervical cancer development,and could be used as an effective indicator for judging lymph node metastasis and diagnosis of cervical cancer.
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CD44 is a transmembrane glycoprotein,which is a family of highly specific single chain mem-brane surface glycoproteins by a single gene.CD44 is mainly involved in the specific adhesion between cells and cells,cells and matrix.CD44v6 is a member of the CD44 family,and its correlation with metastasis and prognosis of non small cell lung cancer( NSCLC) has become a hot research topic in recent years.The current research pro-gress of CD44v6 and NSCLC are reviewed in this paper.
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Objective To investigate the effect and clinical significance of neoadjuvant radiotherapy for the expression of CD44v6 in lung squamous cell carcinoma tissues. Methods Fifty cases lung squamous cell carcinoma patients confirmed by aspiration biopsy from May 2013 to January 2015 were collected in Yangquan Coal Mine Group Genernal Hospital,including 20 cases of patients with stageⅢA were treated with neoadjuvant radiotherapy before surgery,and then performed surgery after neoadjuvant therapy. The expression of CD44v6 was detected by immunohistochemistry. The correlation between CD44v6 and clinicopathological features was analyzed by chi?square test. Results Immunohistochemical staining of CD44v6 was performed in tumor tissue of puncture biopsy, the positive rate expression of CD44v6 was 72%( 36/50 ) , it was associated with lymphatic metastasis(χ2 =3. 964, P=0. 046 ) and advanced TNM stage (Ⅲ+Ⅳstage ) (χ2 =4. 276, P=0. 039 ) . The positive expression of CD44v6 protein in tumor tissue was significantly decreased in 20 patients with neoadjuvant radiotherapy compared with before radiotherapy(7. 23±1. 45 vs. 11. 42±1. 31,t=2. 524,P=0. 025). Conclusion Positive expression of CD44v6 in human lung squamous cell carcinoma is related to the malignant clinicopathological features. Neoadjuvant radiotherapy before operation may improve prognosis via down?regulating CD44v6 expression.
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Purpose To study the expression of metastasis suppressor gene (KAI1/CD82) and cell adhesion molecules(CD44v6) in human laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma ( LSCC) and its clinical significance, and to investigate their relationship. Methods EnVi-sion immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of KAI1/CD82 and CD44v6 protein in 64 cases of LSCC tissues and 15 ca-ses of normal laryngeal mucosa ( NLM) tissues. Results The positive rate of KAI1/CD82 in LSCC tissues ( 37. 50%) was signifi-cantly lower than that of the NLM tissues(86. 67%) (P=0. 031), and the positive rate of CD44v6 in LSCC tissues(75. 00%) was significantly higher than that of the NLM tissues(26. 67%) (P=0. 011). The expression of KAI1/CD82 was associated with clinical stages, grade of tumor differentiation, neck lymph node metastasis ( P0. 05). And CD44v6 with grade of tumor differentiation, neck lymph node metastasis and prognosis (P0. 05). In addition, KAI1/CD82 expression was negatively correlated with CD44v6 expression (rs = -0. 504, P=0. 036). Conclusion KAI1/CD82 and CD44v6 are mutually inhibited in the tumorigenesis, progress, invasion and metastasis, and detection of the expression of KAI1/CD82 and CD44v6 may be helpful for judging the biological behaviors of LSCC.
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Objective To investigate the significance of CD44v6 expression in acute leukemia( AL) and it's relation with the prognosis of AL. Methods Sixty AL patients were treated by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay( ELISA)as initial treatment group. Fourty-seven cases were remission as remission group, and 20 cases with no-remission group. Meanwhile,45 healthy people were served as the control group. The level of CD44v6 was measured by ELISA. Results The serum CD44v6 in initial treatment patients,remission group, no-remission group and control group were( 179. 34 ± 39. 41 )μg/L,( 190. 61 ± 28. 05 )μg/L,( 106. 72 ± 26. 38)μg/L and(98. 31 ± 21. 78)μg/L respectively,and the difference was significant( F =56. 303,P﹤0. 01),and the CD44v6 of initial treatment group and remission group were higher than that of no-remission group and control group(P﹤0. 05). The leukocyte levels was positive related to CD44v6 levels in 60 patients(r=0. 826,P﹤0. 01),and it was also related to disease stage,extramedullary infiltration(( r=0. 485,0. 512;P﹤0. 01). Conclusion The level of CD44v6 is closely related with the occurrence and development of acute leukemia. The assay of CD44v6 in serum of AL patients is helpful in diagnosing and predicting the risk of metastasis and prognosis in AL.
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Objective To study the expression of metastasic suppressor gene( KAI1 / CD82)and cell adhesion molecules(CD44v6)in human laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma(LSCC),precancerous lesion,polyps,and normal mucosa. Methods Immunohistochemical technique( Envision)was used to detect the expression of KAI1 / CD82 protein and CD44v6 protein in 64 cases of LSCC,21 cases of laryngeal precancerous lesion(LPL),15 cases of polyp of larynx(LP)and 15 cases of normal laryngeal mucosa(NLM). Results The result turned out to be as follows:①KAI1 / CD82 protein was highly expressed in NLM and LP,and lowly expressed in LPL and LSCC,the positive rates of KAI1 / CD82 protein expression were 86. 67%(13 / 15),80. 00%(12 / 15),38. 10%(8 / 21)and 37. 50%(24 /64),respectively. There was statistically significant difference in NLM and LSCC. ② CD44v6 protein was lowly ex-pressed in NLM and LP and highly expressed in LPL and LSCC,the positive rates of CD44v6 protein expression were 26. 67%(4 / 15),33. 33%(5 / 15),80. 95%(17 / 21)and 75. 00%(48 / 64),respectively. There was statisti-cally significant difference in NLM and LSCC. Conclusion ① The down-regulation or deletion of KAI1 / CD82 and the up-regulation of CD44v6 are related to carcinogenesis,development of LSCC. ② The combined detection of KAI1 / CD82 and CD44v6 may provide clinical basis for the early diagnosis of LSCC.
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Objective To analyze the effect of TSH inhibition on soluble interleukin 2 receptor ( sIL-2R), interleukin 44 variant 6 (CD44V6), tumor specific growth factor (TSGF) and T lymphocyte subsets in elderly patients with thyroid cancer.Methods 50 elderly patients with thyroid cancer in our hospital were collected.The patients were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups, 25 cases in each group, patients in the experimental group were given TSH suppression therapy after surgery , patients in control group were given thyroxine replacement therapy after operation, treatment for 1 month, serum SIL-2R, CD44v6, TSGF and peripheral blood T lymphocyte subsets situation were detected in all patients with .ResuIts After treatment, compared with the control group, ①in the experimental group, the level of serum sIL-2R was significantly lower, the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05);②the serum CD44V6 level was lower in the experimental group (P<0.05);③the serum TSGF level was lower in the experimental group (P<0.05);③in the experimental group,the levels of CD3 + and CD4 +were higher, levels of CD8 + were lower ( P<0.05 ) .ConcIusions TSH suppression therapy can reduce senile thyroid cancer patients serum SIL-2R, CD44v6, TSGF and CD8 +lymphocyte level, peripheral blood T lymphocyte CD3 +, CD4 +levels were elevated,and improve the immune function of patients , the clinical has guiding significance .
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Objective To investigate the expression of CXCR7 in gastric carcinoma tissues and the role of CXCR7 in tumor growth, adhesion and invasion of gastric cancer. Methods The expression levels of CXCR7, Survivin, CD44v6 and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-3 were detected by immunnohistochemistry method in gastric cancer specimens came from 160 patients (gastric cancer group) and 30 specimens of normal gastric tissues (control group). Results The expression of CXCR7 protein was significantly higher in gastric cancer group than that of control group (P<0.05). The positive CXCR7 staining was significantly different with tumor size, depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis and clinical staging ( P<0.05). CXCR7 expression was positively correlated with Survivin, CD44v6 and MMP-3. Conclusion CXCR7 might take part in progression of gastric cancer by anti-apoptosis (Survivin). CXCR7 might take part in the lymph node metastasis of gastric cancer and mediate the adhesion and invasion by CD44v6 and MMP-3.
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Objective To investigate the CD44v6 and heparanase in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC ) and adjacent normal lung tissues ,and to study the correlation of these two molecular in non-small cell lung cancer invasion and metastasis .Methods The expressing of CD44v6 and heparanase in 117 patients with non-small cell lung cancer tissues and 62 adjacent normal lung tissue was detected by immunohistochemical staining .Results The expression of CD44v6 in NSCLC was 54 .7% (64/117) ,which was sig-nificantly higher than in adjacent tissues of 4 .8% (3/62)(P<0 .05);the expression of heparanase in NSCLC was 86 .3% (101/117) ,which was significantly higher than the normal adjacent tissues 17 .7% (11/62)(P<0 .01);CD44v6 expression in NSCLC ex-pression was positive correlated with heparanase .Conclusion CD44v6 and heparanase are associated with the invasion and metasta-sis of NSCLC ,combined detection of the expression of the two molecular maybe has a certain reference value in determine the prog-nosis of NSCLC .
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Objective To investigate expression,significance and relationship of IMP3 and CD44v6 protein in papillary thyroid carcinoma.Methods Immunohistochemical method was used to investigate the expression of IMP3 and CD44v6 protein in 30 cases PTC(10 follicular variant of papillary carcinoma cases,20 conventional papillary thyroid carcinoma cases),20 PTC with lymph node metastasis cases,20 benign tissues of thyroid cases.Quantitative analysis of the detection was conducted by Biosens Digital Imaging System vl.6 (professional image analysis software),and the target integral optical density (IOD) was used for the judgement parameter.Results IMP3 and CD44v6 expression in the PTC is higher than in benign group,the difference was statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05) ; IMP3 and CD44v6 expression in PTC with lymph node metastasis was higher than without lymph node metastasis in the organization to express,the difference was statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05) ; There was a positive correlation between IMP3 and CD44v6 expression and metastasis in PTC (r =0.903,P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions The expression of IMP3 and CD44v6 protein was closely correlated with the invasion and metastasis of PTC.IMP3 and CD44v6 protein might be considered as molecular markers for PTC.
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Objective To investigate the expression of MUC-1 and CD44v6 in breast carcinoma and its diagnostic value.Methods 93 cases of breast carcinoma were examined by immunohistochemical method for MUC-1 and CD44v6.Results The positive rates of MUC-1 and CD44v6 were 71.0 ％ (66/93) and 63.4 ％ (59/93),respectively.The expression of MUC-1 in breast carcinoma was correlated with histologic differentiation (14.3 ％,69.4 ％,100.0 ％) and lymph node metastasis (22.9 ％,100.0 ％) (x2 =36.147,63.047,both P ＜ 0.0001),but had no relationship with the type of breast carcinoma,tumor clinical stages,and tumor size (all P ＞ 0.05).The expression of CD44v6 in breast carcinoma was correlated with tumor clinical stages (6.3 ％,64.6 ％,93.1％) and lymphnode metastasis (20.0 ％,89.7 ％) (x2 =9.507,45.662,both P＜0.05),but had no relationship with tumor type,tumor clinical stages and tumor size (all P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion MUC-1 and CD44v6 may play important roles in the development of breast carcinoma and the biologic behavior of breast carcinoma may be closely related with over expression of MUC-1 and CD44v6 protein.MUC-1 and CD44v6 can be used to predict the prognosis and direct the treatment of breast carcinoma.
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ObjectiveTo explore the relation of VEGF-C and CD44V6 expression with cervical lymph metastases in papillary thyroid carcinoma.MethodsThe expression of VEGF-C and CD44V6 in 80 specimens of papillary thyroid carcinoma were evaluated with SP immunohistochemical methods. Lymphangiogenesis was examined by immunohistochemical staining with the specific D2-40 antibody and evaluated by lymphatic vessel density(LVD).In all the 80 cases,there were 38 cases with cervical lymph node metastases and 42 cases without cervical lymph node metastasis. ResultsThe positive expression rates of VEGF-C and CD44V6 in the cases with cervical metastases were 86.84 ％ (33/38) and 81.58 ％ (31/38) respectively,and in the cases without cervical lymph metastases were 61.90 ％ (26/42) and 52.38 ％ (22/42) respectively.There were significant differences in the positive expression rates of VEGF-C and CD44V6between two groups(P＜0.05). In the cases with lymph node metastases,there were positive correlations between VEGF-C and CD44V6 expression(r=0.525,P＜0.0l).Conclusion VEGF-C and CD44V6 play important roles in lymph metastasis and invasion of papillary thyroid carcinoma.VEGF-C and CD44V6 can be considered as a marker of pathological and biological behavior of papillary thyroid carcinoma.
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Objective: To investigate the effect of cell adhesion molecule CD44v6 on biological behavior of bladder cancer cell line T24. Methods: The expressions of CD44v6 protein in bladder transitional epithelial cells and bladder cancer T24 cells were detected by immunocytochemistry. MTT assay was used to detect the growth inhibitory rate of T24 cells treated with different concentrations of anti-CD44v6 monoclonal antibodies for 24, 48 and 72 h, respectively. After T24 cells were treated with anti-CD44v6 monoclonal antibodies, the apoptosis was detected by flow cytometer, the expressions of apoptosis-related markers Bcl-2 and Bax were determined by immunohistochemistry, and the change of migration ability of T24 cells was detected by Transwell migration test. Results: CD44v6 was expressed in T24 cells, but rarely expressed in bladder transitional epithelial cells. MTT assay demonstrated that anti-CD44v6 monoclonal antibodies had inhibitory effects on the proliferation of T24 cells (P <0.01). The apoptosis rate of T24 cells was increased with an induction of anti-CD44v6 monoclonal antibodies (P <0.01). The expression level of Bax protein was up-regulated, while the expression level of Bcl-2 protein was down-regulated in T24 cells (P <0.01). The migration of T24 cells was inhibited after treatment with anti-CD44v6 monoclonal antibodies (P <0.05). Conclusion: Anti- CD44v6 monoclonal antibodies can inhibit the abilities of proliferation and migration of T24 cells, and also induce apoptosis. The mechanism may be related with the expression regulation of Bcl -2 and Bax genes. Copyright© 2012 by TUMOR.
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Objective To study the relationship between clinical-biological significance and the expression of CD44v6 and Survivin in multifocal papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). Methods Immunohistochemical SP method was used to investigate the expression of CD44v6 and Survivin in 47 cases of multifocal PTC and adjacent tissues, and 122 cases of single focal PTC tissues. The expression of CD44v6 and Survivin and the risk factors among different clinical factors were analyzed between solitary PTC and multifocal PTC group. Results Tumor foci were found in 27.8 % (47/169) patients. The patients with multifocal were characterized by a higher ratio of family history of thymid tumor, lymph node metastasis and extra-thymidal extension (χ2 = 4.189, 6.159, 4.079, P ＜0.05), and not related with sex, age, size and the number of the tumors (P ＞0.05).The positive rates of CD44v6 and Survivin were 70.2 % (33/47) and 66.0 %(31/47), respectively, in multifocal PTC, both of which were significantly higher than that in nodular goiter,Hashimoto' s thyroiditis and normal thyroid tissues (χ2 =47.184, P ＜0.05). Overexpressions of CD44v6 and Survivin in multifocal PTC were related to the degree of the infiltration(χ2 = 4.723, P =0.030; χ2 =4.023,P =0.045) and lymph node metastasis (χ2 =5.771, P =0.016; χ2 =5.686, P =0.017), and not related with sex,age, family history and the number of the tumors (P ＞0.05).The expression of CD44v6 was correlated positively with Survivin (r =0.514, χ2 =10.15, P ＜0.01).There was no significant difference in expressions of CD44v6 and Survivin between multifocal and single focal PTC (P ＞0.05).By the sept.2010, the patients with single and mutiple focal PTC were all survival.Conclusion Multifocus is one of the clinical features of PTC.The high expressions of CD44v6 and Survivin in multifocal PTCs relate to the development, invasion and metastasis.
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Objective To study biological significance of CD44v6 and p63 protein expression in buccal squamous cell carcinomas (BSCC). Methods Immunohistochemical method was used to examine the expression of CD44v6 and p63 protein in 52 cases of BSCC,10 cases of atypical hyperplasia and 10 cases of normal buccal mucosa,which were analyzed based on clinic and pathology characteristics.Results In normal tissue,atypical hyperplastic tissue of buccal mucosa and BSCC tissue,the expression of CD44v6 decreased gradually 90.0 ％ (9/10),80.0 ％ (8/10) and 55.8 ％ (29/52),respectively,and the layers of positive expression was decreased,and the expression of p63 increased gradually,30.0 ％ (3/10),40.0 ％ (4/10) and 90.4 ％(47/52),respectively.The differences of their expression rates were significant (P ＜0.05).The expression of CD44v6 and p63 had no relationship with gender,age,tumor classification,pathological differentiation (P ＞0.05).CD44v6 was relevant with invasion style and lymphatic node metastasis of BSCC (P ＜ 0.05),while p63 has no relevance with lymphatic node metastasis of BSCC (P ＞0.05).Conclusion CD44v6 and p63 participate in the regulation of generation and deve-lopment process of BSCC.CD44v6 can be utilized as a useful marker of BSCC for detection and prediction of prognosis.p63 play a role as oncogene,which can be a useful marker for BSCC detection.CD44v6 and p63 have independent function in generation,development,metastasis and aversion of BSCC.
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BACKGROUND: CD44 protein is known as a homing cellular adhesion molecule that is linked to diverse cellular functions such as adhesion, migration and invasion, which are all important in cancer progression and metastasis. The expression of CD44 standard and variant isoforms (CD44 standard isoform [CD44s] and CD44 splice variants containing exon v6 [CD44v6], respectively) is associated with an unfavorable clinical outcome in various neoplasms. METHODS: Forty patients who were diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) through biopsy at Hanyang University Hospital between 1996 and 2003 were included in this study. CD44 proteins expression was analyzed by immunohistochemical staining on a tissue microarray and the correlation of CD44 with the types of DLBCL and clinical parameters, including the factors defined by the International Prognostic Index, was evaluated. RESULTS: A high CD44s and intermediate to strong CD44v6 expression, including cytoplasmic membranous staining patterns, was present in 35% (14/40) and 25% (10/40) of DLBCL patients, respectively. High CD44s expression was correlated significantly with non-germinal center B-cell-like types (non-GCB, p=0.004) and patients with old age (p=0.041). CONCLUSIONS: High CD44s expression may be significantly associated with the non-GCB type compared to the GCB type and may be essential to the prediction of disease outcome in tumor stage III in DLBCL patients.