The expression of CD44v6 in colon: from normal to malignant.

CD44v6, an integral transmembrane protein belonging to a family of adhesion molecule receptors, plays an important role in tumor growth, progression and metastasis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the expression of CD44v6 in normal, hyperplastic, adenomatous, and malignant colonic epithelium and to determine its correlation with tumor pathologic stage and lymph node metastasis. We examined the immunohistochemical expression of CD44v6 in normal colonic tissue (n = 25), hyperplastic polyps (n = 45), tubular adenomas (n = 57), tubulovillous adenomas (n = 25), villous adenomas (n = 9), adenocarcinomas stage I (n = 26), adenocarcinomas stage III (n = 26), and lymph node metastasis (n = 26).