STUDY OF PROGNOSTIC SIGNIFICANCE OF CD44(CELL ADHESION MOLECULE) EXPRESSION IN GASTRIC ADENOCARCINOMA

Priyadharisini Jayakumar; Padmavathi Rajagopalan

Volume : VII, Issue : VII, July - 2018

STUDY OF PROGNOSTIC SIGNIFICANCE OF CD44(CELL ADHESION MOLECULE) EXPRESSION IN GASTRIC ADENOCARCINOMA

Priyadharisini Jayakumar, Padmavathi Rajagopalan

Abstract :

Background: Gastric adenocarcinoma is one of the most leading malignancy worldwide. Though multiple genetic aberrations were identified in the carcinogenesis of gastric cancer, the unique property of CD 44 which is a cell adhesion molecule allows the process of tumor progression and metastasis. The current study was done to study the association between CD44 expression with variable pathological features of gastric adenocarcinoma and to evaluate probable prognostic significance of it. Methods: A retrospective review of gastric adenocarcinoma cases diagnosed histopathologically who have undergone total/subtotal gastrectomy over a period of one year was done. Tumors were classified histologically according to Lauren�s classification and staged according to TNM. Appropriate paraffin blocks of tumor tissue were chosen for further evaluation for CD44 expression and it was correlated with various pathological features of gastric adenocarcinoma. Result: Of 50 patients, eighty six percent of patients were CD44 positive. CD44 was found to be more commonly expressed in the intestinal subtype (P = 0.049). A significant corelation was seen between the histological grade / stage of tumor and the expression of CD44 (P = 0.000). Conclusion: By statistical analysis CD44 expression was found to show significant correlation with histological type, grade as well as stage. Since the stage is a proven prognostic marker in gastric adenocarcinomas, CD44 expression can be used as a prognostic marker in endoscopic biopsy itself to assess the invasiveness and also the metastatic potential of these tumours and thereby helping to improve prognosis of patients by the application of better targeted therapy as there is still an unmet need for approaches to predict individual therapy responses.