CD44 Immunoexpression in the Progression of Actinic Keratosis and Cutaneous Squamouscarcinoma

CD44 seems to confer the needed conditions for malignant neoplasms to grow and progress. The present study aims to investigate the role of CD44 expression in pre-invasive and invasive squamous lesions of the skin. We investigated 89 cases of preinvasive and invasive cutaneous lesions, of which 28 corresponded to actinic keratosis (KIN- keratinocyte intraepithelial neoplasia) with varying degrees of severity and 61 cases of squamous cell carcinoma with variable degrees of differentiation. The statistical analysis of CD44 immunoexpression indicated significantly higher values for KIN I and II compared to KIN III, as well as for KIN lesions in comparison with squamous cell carcinomas. Similar results were observed in well differentiated carcinomas compared to moderate and poorly differentiated lesions. These observations suggest that CD44 expression plays a role in the progression of cutaneous squamous neoplasia.