Comparison of p53 and CD44 variant 6 expression between paired primary and recurrent ovarian cancer: an immunohistochemical analysis.

Progression of malignant potential in ovarian cancer was investigated by comparing recurrent tumor with their primary tumor counterparts in terms of p53 and CD44 variant 6 (CD44v6) expression. Forty-three paired primary and recurrent tumors were immunohistochemically evaluated for expression of p53 and CD44v6. A paired analysis revealed that p53 and CD44v6 expression were significantly greater in recurrent tumors than those in the primary counterparts with statistical significance, respectively (P=0.0055 and 0.0071; Wilcoxon signed-rank test). No relationship between these two proteins was found. These results suggested that recurrent ovarian cancer may possibly express a stronger malignant potential in comparison to the primary tumor.