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Clinicopathologic Significance of Sox2, CD44 and CD44v6 Expression in Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma

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Pathology & Oncology Research

Abstract

Embryonic stem cells (ESC) and cancer stem cells (CSC) have a capacity for self-renewal and differentiation into multiple cell lineages. Sox2 plays a critical role in ESC and has been shown to participate in carcinogenesis and tumor progression in many human cancers. CD44 and CD44v6 are putative CSC markers and their association with tumor progression, metastasis, and tumor relapse after treatment has been demonstrated. We evaluated the immunoexpression of Sox2, CD44, and CD44v6 in 85 cases of Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas (IHCC) and assessed their prognostic significance. Sox2 expression showed a significant association with lymph node metastasis (p = 0.025), T4 stage (p = 0.046), and worse overall survival (p = 0.047). Greater expression of Sox2 was observed in IHCC with poor differentiation, vascular invasion, and stage IV, without statistical significance (p > 0.05). CD44 expression showed an association with periductal infiltrative type (p = 0.034), poor differentiation (p = 0.012), and vascular invasion (p = 0.009). CD44v6 expression was evident in patients with stage IV (p = 0.019). These results demonstrated that Sox2 expression is associated with aggressive behavior and poor overall survival in IHCC.

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Abbreviations

ESC:

Embryonic stem cell

CSC:

Cancer stem cell

IHCC:

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma

DFS:

Disease-free survival

OS:

Overall survival

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Acknowledgement

We thank Eun Hwa Lee for valuable technical assistance.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author Contribution

Study design, analysis, and interpretation: Mi Jin Gu.

Acquisition of data: Byung Ik Jang.

Manuscript drafted by: Mi Jin Gu and Byung Ik Jang.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, Yeungnam University, 170, Hyeonchung-ro, Nam-gu, Daegu, Republic of Korea

    Mi Jin Gu

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Yeungnam University, Daegu, Republic of Korea

    Byung Ik Jang

Authors
  1. Mi Jin Gu
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  2. Byung Ik Jang
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Correspondence to Mi Jin Gu.

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Gu, M.J., Jang, B.I. Clinicopathologic Significance of Sox2, CD44 and CD44v6 Expression in Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma. Pathol. Oncol. Res. 20, 655–660 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12253-014-9745-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12253-014-9745-2

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