High serum soluble CD44 is correlated with a poor outcome of aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

We measured soluble CD44 (sCD44) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 216 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). The sCD44 level was significantly elevated in patients with NHL. A sCD44 level of > or =500 ng/ml showed a significantly decreased overall survival (OS) rate and progression free survival (PFS) rate. In the high-intermediate+high risk group (international prognostic index (IPI)), both the OS rate and the PFS rate were significantly decreased when the sCD44 level was > or =1000 ng/ml. Moreover, the results of a multivariate analysis showed that the five IPI prognostic factors and the sCD44 level were independent prognostic factors, thus suggesting that sCD44 levels could be a useful prognostic marker for aggressive lymphoma