Expression of CD44 and IDH1 R132H in Gliomas and their Prognostic Relevance

Gliomas are among the most common and aggressive primary brain tumours with dismal prognosis. A lot of research has been directed towards elucidating the molecular basis of these tumours, but few reliable prognostic markers are known. It is necessary to continue to study possible molecular factors that may be involved in development of gliomas or have a prognostic role. CD44 is a marker of neural stem cells and is involved in invasiveness of different tumours. In addition, IDH1 R132H mutant protein is expressed in secondary glioblastomas (GBMs) with much better prognosis. The goal of this study was to evaluate the expression and prognostic role of CD44 and IDH1 R132H in gliomas by immunohistochemistry. In this study, we found that CD44 expression was more prominent in glioblastomas than diffuse astrocytomas and it was not correlated with IDH1 mutational status. CD44 was not found to have a prognostic role in gliomas, in contrast with IDH1 R132H positive status, which was associated with better prognosis. Interestingly, higher CD44 expression values were associated with smaller size of GBMs and female gender indicating that the glioma stem cell population may be altered by gender specific factors and the growth rate of the tumour.