Expression of CD44 variant isoforms, CD44v3 and CD44v6, are associated with prognosis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Abstract

The patients with CD44v6 high expression showed a clinically incomplete response to concurrent chemoradiotherapy at the primary site. The disease-specific survival rate was lower in patients with high expression of CD44v3 than in those with low expression. These results suggest that analysis of CD44v6 and CD44v3 expression is useful in estimating prognosis and determining effective treatment strategies in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.