Expression of CD44 and its clinical significance in breast cancer tissues

OBJECTIVE:To investigate the expression of CD44 in breast cancer tissues and its significance.METHODS: The expression of CD44 in breast cancer tissues was detected in 101 patients by the immunohistochemical SP method.The relationship between the expressions of CD44 and biological characteristic of breast cancer was compared by χ2 test.The relationship between CD44 and prognosis for breast cancer was evaluated by Log-rank single-factor survival analysis.RESULTS: CD44 was over expressed in breast cancer tissues,and the percentage was 68.3%(69/101).The significant difference in lymph nodes metastasis of breast cancer was found between the group of CD44 over-expression and the control group(χ2=8.56,P=0.003 4),but the tumor size,and histological grade,ER,PR and HER-2/neu did not exist statistical significance.The 3-year disease-free survival rate of high expression group was much lower than the low expression group(75.2% vs 93.3%,χ2=4.905,P=0.027).The overal survival rate of the high expression group was much lower than that of the low expression group(81.2% vs 97.8%,χ2=4.714,P=0.030).CONCLUSIONS: CD44 is over expressed in breast cancer.The expression of CD44 may be closely related to lymph metastasis.Over-expressed CD44 may be an important marker for poor prognosis of breast cancer.