[The relationship of expression of CD44v6 with metastasis and prognosis in breast cancer].
OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship of expression of CD44v6 with metastasis and prognosis in breast cancer. METHODS: The expression of CD44v6 protein in 78 paraffin and 37 fresh specimens of breast carcinomas was detected with immunohistochemistry (IHC). The expression of CD44v6 mRNA in 37 fresh specimens of breast carcinoma was detected with RT-PCR. The correlation of tumor size, TNM stage, status of axillary lymph node, tissue grade, prognosis and CD44v6 expression in breast cancer was analyzed to compare the sensitivity of the two methods. RESULTS: The expression of CD44v6 in breast cancer was correlated to metastasis of the axillary lymph node, tumor size and TNM stage. It was an important factor affecting survival of patients with breast cancer. Positive expressive rates of CD44v6 protein and mRNA were 70.3% and 59.5% respectively in 37 specimens of fresh carcinoma tissues (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The expression of CD44v6 is closely related to metastasis and prognosis in breast cancer, and the sensitivity to detect CD44v6 expression shows no significant difference between IHC and RT-PCR.