CD44 as prognostic factor in oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma

• Published in: The Journal of craniofacial surgery Vol. 13; no. 1; p. 85
• Main Authors: Carinci, Francesco, Stabellini, Giordano, Calvitti, Mario, Pelucchi, Stefano, Targa, Lorenza, Farina, Antonio, Pezzetti, Furio, Pastore, Antonio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.01.2002
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Analysis of Variance; Biomarkers, Tumor - analysis; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - chemistry; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - mortality; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - pathology; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - therapy; Case-Control Studies; Disease-Free Survival; Female; Humans; Hyaluronan Receptors - analysis; Immunohistochemistry; Lymphatic Metastasis; Male; Middle Aged; Mouth Neoplasms - chemistry; Mouth Neoplasms - mortality; Mouth Neoplasms - pathology; Mouth Neoplasms - therapy; Neoplasm Staging; Odds Ratio; Prognosis; Proportional Hazards Models; Retrospective Studies
• ISSN: 1049-2275
• DOI: 10.1097/00001665-200201000-00020

This retrospective case control study was conducted to assess the prognostic value of some patient-, tumor-, treatment-related variables, and to correlate markers of primary tumor with survival and cervical metastases. Twenty-five patients with histologically proven squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity and oropharynx were analyzed. Patients were never treated before and had a minimum follow-up review of 45 months. Results show that T-stage is the most important clinical prognostic parameter. Regarding immunohistochemical markers (Ki67 and CD44), only CD44 seems to be significantly correlated with prognosis but this value showed a multicollinear effect with N upon survival. Decreased expression of CD44 correlates with a decreased survival, although increased CD44 expression was consistent with a longer survival. Therefore, it was assessed that a loss of cell adhesion, related to decreased expression of CD44, may be determinant of survival in these patients.