SOLUBLE CD44V6 - A PROGNOSTIC PARAMETER I N PANCREATIC-CANCER

Variant CD44 splice products, especially CD44v6, are expressed on acti vated lymphocytes and tumour cells. The soluble forms of CD44s and CD4 4v6 are present in the serum of normal individuals. We investigated se ra from patients with pancreatic cancer for the concentration of CD44v 6 by using Western blots and ELISA. CD44v6 was significantly reduced i n patients with pancreatic cancer (120 ng/ml, p<0.00005). Survival ana lysis of pancreatic cancer patients revealed that median survival in t he group with CD44v6 serum concentrations below 120 ng/ml was signific antly decreased compared to the group with serum concentrations higher than 120 ng/ml (6.7 vs. 15.1 months; p<0.0005) suggesting that CD44v6 is a good prognostic marker in pancreatic cancer.