BACKGROUNDTo study the expression of CD44v3 and its prognostic value in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

METHODSCD44v3 expression was detected in 52 NSCLC tissues and 12 normal pulmonary tissues by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry (SP method).

RESULTSThe positive expression rate of CD44v3 in NSCLC was 57.7% (SP method) and 71.2% (RT-PCR), respectively. The positive rate of CD44v3 in squamous cell carcinoma was significantly higher than that in adenocarcinoma (P < 0.01). Higher expression of CD44v3 was demonstrated in poor differentiation compared with moderate and well differentiation (P < 0.05). The expression of CD44v3 was much higher in patients with lymph node metastasis than that in those without lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05). The expression rate of CD44v3 was remarkably higher in stage III than that in stage I-II. Multi-variate Logistic analysis showed the expression of CD44v3 and p-TNM stage were significantly prognostic factors (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSOverexpression of CD44v3 is very common in lung cancer tissues. Detection of CD44v3 expression may be helpful to predict the prognosis of lung cancer patients.