The aim of this study was to evaluate CD44v6 protein expression and its prognostic value of CD44v6 in ovarian carcinoma. The expression of CD44v6 was analyzed in 62 patients with ovarian carcinoma by immunohistochemical method. The data obtained were analyzed by univariate and multivariate analyses. The present study clearly demonstrates that tumor tissues from 41 (66.1%) patients showed positive expression with CD44v6. The expression of CD44v6 was significantly correlated with histological type, FIGO stage and histological grade of ovarian carcinomas. Concerning the prognosis, the survival period of patients with CD44v6 positive was shorter than that of patients with CD44v6 negative (36.6% versus 66.7%, 5-year survival, ). Univariate analysis showed that CD44v6 expression, histological type, FIGO stage and histological grade were associated with 5-year survival, and CD44v6 expression was associated with histological type, FIGO stage and histological grade and 5-year survival. In multivariate analysis, using the COX-regression model, CD44v6 expression was important prognostic factor. In conclusion, these results suggest that CD44v6 may be related to histological type, FIGO stage and histological grade of ovarian carcinomas, and CD44v6 may be an important molecular marker for poor prognosis in ovarian carcinomas. 1. Introduction Ovarian carcinoma is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths from gynecological cancer and the seventh most common cancer worldwide [1]. Despite progress in detection and treatment, epithelial ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecologic malignancy in women [2]. One important reason for high mortality caused by ovarian cancer is the poor understanding of the underlying biology, which in turn contributes to a lack of reliable biomarker for disease detection and effective therapeutic agents. Adhesion processes are involved in all levels of the metastatic cascade. Most of the adhesion receptor families so far reported, including integrins, cadherins, selectins, immunoglobulins, and proteoglycans, have played a great role in various stages of tumor progression and metastasis [3]. CD44 family is one kind of important cell adhesion molecules. The CD44 gene is 50–60？kDa in size, resides on chromosome 11p13, and is known to be composed of at least 20 exons. CD44v6 is an important isoform of CD44 family [4–7]. It is a transmembrane glycoprotein widely distributed among different tissues and is a receptor of the extracellular matrix component hyaluronic acid [4]. Although the functions of CD44v6 in humans remain unclear, it
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