| Background: Breast Cancer (BC), is one of the most common malignancies around the world. CD44 expression
correlates with cell proliferation, infltration, angiogenesis, metastasis and prognosis in breast cancer but the exact
mechanism of CD44 function is still not clear. The present study evaluates the expression of CD44 in primary
HER2-positive breast cancer. The results can be used to determine the disease-free and overall survival of patients with
breast cancer. Methods: We studied specimens from 100 patients with HER2-positive invasive breast cancer between
March 2011 and June 2019. Immunohistochemical staining for CD44 was performed in all the specimens. Their CD44
association with clinicopathologic parameters and prognosis was evaluated. Results: The high CD44 was expression
in 68(68%) of the patients and Low expression in 32(32%). CD44 expression was signifcantly associated with stage
(p=0.007). There were no signifcant associations between the DFS, OS and other clinicopathologic parameters except
for the stage, respectively (HR= 3.67, 95% CI =1.16-11.56, P = 0.03) (HR= 0.8.56, 95% CI =2.22-32.90, P = 0.002).20%
of patients had died by the end of the follow-up. There were no signifcant association between DFS, OS and CD44
expression, respectively. (Log-rank p=0.13). (Log-rank p=0.10). Conclusion: The results from this study suggest that
CD44 is clinically associated with stage of breast cancers. From the survival analysis, there was no statistical difference
in overall survival and disease free survival with respect to CD44 expression. Further studies larger sample sizes are
recommended for further investigation. |