Expression of the Transmembrane Glycoprotein CD44s Is Potentially an Independent Predictor of Recurrence in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background/Aims: Cluster differentiation 44 standard iso-form (CD44s) is a transmembrane glycoprotein. CD44s is a known prognostic factor in various cancers, due to its involve-ment in tumor cell growth, invasion and metastasis. Its prog-nostic role, however, is debated because it can be a positive or negative prognostic factor depending on tumor type and is still an ambiguous prognostic indicator in other cancers, especially hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We investigated the relationship between CD44s expression and survival in HCC patients. Methods: A total of 260 HCC samples were collected to generate a tissue microarray. Staining of the ar-rays with a primary mouse CD44s monoclonal antibody was followed by evaluation of the relationship between CD44s expression and tumor differentiation. The effect of CD44s expression on patient survival was analyzed. Results: CD44s protein expression correlated with histological grade (most and worst Edmondson grade) of the HCC (p=0.029 and p=0.039, respectively) and adversely affected the disease free survival period based on univariate and multivariate analyses (p=0.038 and p=0.077, respectively). Conclu-sions: High CD44s protein expression correlates with shorter disease free survival and poorly differentiated HCC. CD44s-targeted therapy may be effi cacious for HCC treatment in the future. (Gut Liver 2011;5:204-209