Association of CD44s and CD44v6 expression with survival outcomes in malignant fibrious histiocytoma.

Abstract

44 Background: New prognostic markers are being searched to determine the value of adjuvant and/or palliative treatment in soft tissue sarcomas (STS). Several studies showed that CD44 expression was associated with a better outcome in certain cancers, such as bladder tumors. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of CD44 in STS of the adult and to determine whether this correlates with the clinical outcome. Methods: We examined the clinical outcome of 34 adult MFH patients (19 males and 15 females, average age 62 years, median 63 years, ranged from 38 to 88 years) who underwent curative treatment The majority of patients received adjuvant radiotherapy (n = 25). No patients received initial adjuvant chemotherapy. The prognostic value of CD44s and isoform expression were evaluated by immunohistochemistry of tissue microarrays. Results: At first, we split the data for each variant of CD44 into two equally sized groups at the medians to the expression values (low and high). We apply a log rank test on the two groups and use the p value as an evaluation criterion for the usefulness of the grouping. CD44s and CD44v6 expression significantly correlated with an improved outcome whereas CD44v8 and h CD44 were not significant. Conclusions: CD44s and CD44v6 expression seem to be associated with improved survival in malignant fibrous histiocytoma.