Coexpression of CD44 and CD90 as a marker of progression.

<p>Top panel: Box plot of the proportion of cytokeratin+ cells coexpressing CD44 and CD90. CD44+/CD90+ cytokeratin+ cells are rare in normal lung, heterogeneously distributed in NSCL tumors and prevalent in NSCLC malignant pleural effusions. KIT+ tumors are shown as filled circles. The mean percent positive (lower, upper 95% confidence interval) is shown for each sample type. Bottom panels: Examples of flow cytometric detection of CD90/CD44 coexpression on cytokeratin+ adjacent normal lung, NSCL tumor and NSCLC malignant pleural effusion.