Assessment of expression of immunohistochemical marker cd44 in carcinoma breast

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Breast cancer accounted for approximately 2 million cases and 6 million cancer-related deaths, ranking second in incidence and fourth in mortality among cancer types in most countries worldwide. According to the literature, it was observed that CD44 expression is associated with Basal-like epithelial markers in the tumor cells, advanced T stage and metaplastic variants. It was observed that there was a no correlation between CD44 expression and Oestrogen receptor negativity. Since CD44 is a recently identified marker, further research is necessary to comprehend its immunoexpression and its relationship to hormone receptor status and other prognostic factors that contribute to patient management in therapy. There was no significant association between overall survival, disease-free survival and CD44 expression. Hence, this study was conducted to assess the expression of CD44 in breast tissue. OBJECTIVES: 1. To assess the expression of the CD44 marker on tumor cells of carcinoma breast. 2. To correlate the expression of the CD44 marker with major prognostic factors like size of tumor, Lymph node metastasis and expression of ER, PR and Her-2-Neu receptors. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 60 mastectomy specimens received in the histopathology section of the Department of Pathology. The patient's age, tumor size, histological type, histological grade, and lymph node status were recorded. IHC staining for ER, PR, HER2/neu and CD44 markers was performed and expression of CD44 was correlated with these clinico-pathological and prognostic parameters. The results were subjected to statistical analysis. Docusign Envelope ID: 1356843D-2C0F-4D64-AE05-F1C98A4C3DB0 9 RESULTS: CD44 expression was observed in 51 out of 60 cases (85%). A statistically significant correlation was found between the expression of CD44 with patient’s age, tumor size, histological grade and HER 2neu hormonal marker. No statistically significant correlation was found between other parameters like, lymph node status and ER and PR expression. CONCLUSION: Expression of CD44 correlated strongly with well-established poor prognostic markers that is Her2/neu status and histological grade thus expression of CD44 suggest aggressive tumor biology and it can be used as an independent prognostic and therapeutic marker.