Prognostic Impact of CD44/CD24 Immunophenotypes on Salivary Gland Malignant Neoplasms

Abstract

SGMN account for 3–6% of head and neck cancers. Cells that express CD44 and CD24 exhibit a stem‐cell‐like behavior. The present study aims to evaluate the influence of CD44 (binding site for hyaluronic acid) and CD24 (P‐selectin receptor) expression on SGMN prognosis and survival outcome. A Immunohistochemical stains for CD44 and CD24 were performed on TMA containing 59 SGMN samples. The CD44, CD24 and CD44/CD24 expression phenotypes were correlated to patient outcome and prognostic factors.The CD44 and CD24 expression correlated with the primary site of injury (PSI) (p=0.006, p=0.05). CD24 was also related with T3/T4 lesions (p=0.027) and clinical stage III/IV (p=0.044). The CD44+/CD24+ profile correlated with the PSI (p=0.0001), locoregional recurrence (p=0.009) and T3/T4 tumors (p=0.017). The cytoplasmic expression of CD24 was related to reduction of disease‐free survival(DFS)(p=0.04). Cox regression revealed that the profiles CD44+/CD24+, CD44+/CD24− and CD44−/CD24− (p=0.003, p=0.001, p=0.003), PSI (p=0.02), clinical stage (p=0.0001), age (p=0.02) and gender (p=0.024) were all independent parameters that predicted DFS. Our data suggest that CD24 expression is associated with reduced DFS and that the CD44+/CD24+ profile represents the more aggressive SGMN.