Background: The variant v6 of CD44 has been associated with metastatic behaviour in neoplasms such as lymphoma, colon carcinoma and breast carcinoma. The expression of CD44v6 in breast carcinoma by flow cytometry and its relationship with other tumor markers is studied in this paper.
Material and methods: The expression of CD44v6 was studied in 46 fresh tissue specimens by flow cytometry using a monoclonal antibody which recognizes the variant v6. Ploidy and cell cycle were also studied by flow-cytometry using propidium iodide labelling. p 53, c-erbB-2 and estrogen receptor expression as well as cell proliferation by Ki-67 staining were performed by immunohistochemistry.
Results: Nineteen out of 46 tumors were CD44v6 positive, without correlation with other tumor markers. Levels of CD44v6 in 19 positive samples sligtly correlates with S-phase and hystological grade.
Conclusions: In the present study there was not a correlation among the presence of the variant v6 of CD44 on tumor cells from breast carcinoma and the aggressivity of the tumor. The expression of CD44v6 by flow cytometry does not seem to be a good prognostic marker.