Yamamichi K, Uehara Y, Kitamura N, Nakane Y, Hioki K
Second Department of Surgery, Kansai Medical University, Moriguchi, Osaka, Japan.
Int J Cancer. 1998 Jun 19;79(3):256-62. doi: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0215(19980619)79:3<256::aid-ijc8>3.0.co;2-o.
Expression of CD44 and its variants is associated with clinically aggressive behavior of some human cancers. The present study was undertaken to determine the expression level of these CD44 mRNAs in relation to the clinicopathologic features and prognosis of gastric cancer. Using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction followed by Southern blotting, we examined the expression of the standard and variant (v6 and v9) forms of CD44 mRNA in 73 cases of gastric cancer. We determined the ratio of mRNA expression in cancer tissue to normal tissue (T/N ratio) and evaluated the correlations of the ratio with clinico-pathologic features, tumor progression and prognosis. The expression level of the standard form of CD44 (CD44s) mRNA correlated with peritoneal dissemination only, and that of CD44v9 mRNA did not significantly correlate with any clinicopathologic factor. The expression level of CD44v6 mRNA was significantly higher in patients with lymph node metastasis and liver metastasis. In 48 curatively resected patients, the expression level of CD44v6 mRNA correlated with the site of recurrence. Furthermore, there was a significant survival advantage in patients with low expression of CD44v6 mRNA compared with those with high expression. The level of CD44v6 mRNA expression may be a potential prognostic indicator and may be useful as a predictor for distant metastasis and recurrence in patients with gastric cancer.
CD44及其变体的表达与某些人类癌症的临床侵袭性行为相关。本研究旨在确定这些CD44 mRNA的表达水平与胃癌临床病理特征及预后的关系。我们采用逆转录聚合酶链反应及Southern印迹法，检测了73例胃癌组织中CD44 mRNA标准型及变体（v6和v9）的表达。我们测定了癌组织与正常组织中mRNA表达的比值（T/N比值），并评估了该比值与临床病理特征、肿瘤进展及预后的相关性。CD44标准型（CD44s）mRNA的表达水平仅与腹膜播散相关，而CD44v9 mRNA的表达水平与任何临床病理因素均无显著相关性。CD44v6 mRNA的表达水平在有淋巴结转移和肝转移的患者中显著升高。在48例根治性切除的患者中，CD44v6 mRNA的表达水平与复发部位相关。此外，与高表达患者相比，CD44v6 mRNA低表达的患者具有显著的生存优势。CD44v6 mRNA的表达水平可能是一种潜在的预后指标，可作为预测胃癌患者远处转移和复发的指标。
