CD44 Variant 9 Serves as a Poor Prognostic Marker in Early Gastric Cancer, But Not in Advanced Gastric Cancer.

Abstract

PURPOSE:

The present study is to investigate the significance of CD44 variant 9 (CD44v9) expression as a biomarker in primary gastric cancer.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

With various gastric tissues, we performed immunohistochemical staining for CD44v9.

RESULTS:

The positive expression rates for CD44v9 in tumor, including adenoma, early gastric cancer (EGC), and advanced gastric cancer (AGC), were higher than those in non-tumor tissues (p=0.003). In addition, the higher expression for CD44v9 was observed as the tissue becomes malignant. In the analysis of 333 gastric cancer tissues, we found that positive expression rates for CD44v9 were higher in the intestinal type or well differentiated gastric cancer than in the diffuse type or poorly differentiated gastric cancer. Interestingly, the positive expression indicated poor prognosis in EGC (5-year survival rate [5-YSR] in stage I, 81.7% vs. 95.2%; p=0.013), but not in AGC (5-YSR in stage II, 66.9% vs. 62.2%; p=0.821; 5-YSR in stage III, 34.5% vs. 32.0%; p=0.929). Moreover, strong positive expression (3+) showed a trend suggesting worse prognosis only in EGC, and it appeared to be associated with lymph node metastasis.

CONCLUSION:

This study suggests that CD44v9 may be a good biomarker for prognosis prediction and for chemoprevention or biomarker-driven therapies only for EGC.

• Authors: Se-Il Go, Gyung Hyuck Ko, Won Sup Lee, Rock Bum Kim, Jeong-Hee Lee, Sang-Ho Jeong, Young-Joon Lee, Soon Chan Hong, Woo Song Ha
• Journal: Cancer research and treatment (Cancer Res Treat) Vol. 48 Issue 1 Pg. 142-52 (Jan 2016) ISSN: 2005-9256 [Electronic] Korea (South)
• PMID: 25779358 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Biomarkers, Tumor
• CD44v9 antigen
• Hyaluronan Receptors

Topics

• Biomarkers, Tumor
• Disease Progression
• Humans
• Hyaluronan Receptors (genetics)
• Lymphatic Metastasis
• Prognosis
• Stomach Neoplasms (genetics, pathology)