Clinical relevance of soluble CD44 in serum as indicator of tumor burden in patients with B-lymphoid malignancies

ABSTRACT

In this study, the serum level of sCD44 was studied in a group of B- lymphoid malignancies at presentation trying to define any association with tumor burden and clinical staging and to correlate the soluble marker with other clinical, laboratory and biologic parameters. It was conducted on 100 adult patients with different B-lymphoid malignancies divided into two groups. ELISA determinations revealed a significant elevation of serum sCD44 values in the entire patients group and the three subgroups of lymphoma/leukemia as well as HD group in comparison with the controls. On comparing the three subgroups as regards sCD44 mean values, a significant difference was observed with the least mean value expressed by the highly aggressive subgroup. 68% of the studied patients showed serum sCD44 above the cut-off value and 16% showed levels above 1000 ng/ml