Abstract

RUIBAL, A.; BARANDELA, J.; PUBUL, V.  and  RODRIGUEZ, J.. CD44v6 expression in lung squamous carcinoma: Association with elevated concentrations of EGFR, erbB2 protein and high cell proliferation. Oncología (Barc.) [online]. 2004, vol.27, n.8, pp.35-40. ISSN 0378-4835.

PURPOSE: CD44v6 is an adhesion molecule implicated in tumor invasion. We studied its expressión in squamous cell carcinomas and its correlation with other clinico-biological parameters. MATERIAL AND METHODS: CD44v6 levels were measured in 95 cases of squamous lung carcinoma (SLC) using an enzyme immunoassay kit (EIA, Bender Diagnostics, Austria). Likewise, we determined the concentration of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and erbB2 oncoprotein on the cell surface. The clinical stage, histological grade, ploidy and phase of cellular synthesis (SP) were also taken into account. RESULTS: The CD44v6 expression (>5 ng/mg prot.) was observed in 76 out of the 95 cases of SLC. The CD44v6-positive tumors showed higher concentrations of EGFR (p = 0.007) and erbB2 protein (p = 0.056), and greater SP global values ( p = 0.011) than the CD44v6-negative tumors. Positive tumors were more frequently SP+ (>15 %) (p = 0.041). CONCLUSIONS: These results led us to the following conclusions: 1) The expression of CD44v6 in SLC is very frequent. 2) Its association with higher concentrations of EGFR and erbB2, as well as the greater cell proliferation suggests that it could reflect a poorer outcome. 3) Further studies are required to establish the clinical usefulness of CD44v6 expression in this subtype of lung tumors.

Keywords : CD44v6; Squamous lung carcinoma; EGFR; ErbB2; Cell proliferation.

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