CD44 may confer the metastatic properties of breast cancer cells.

2003 OCT 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- CD44 may confer the metastatic properties of breast cancer cells.

According to a study from Japan, "For cancer metastasis, tumor cells present in the circulation must first adhere to the endothelium. Integrins play a central role in leukocyte adhesion to the endothelium and subsequent migration into tissues.

"The majority of tumor cells derived from solid cancers, including breast cancer, do not express integrins. We investigated the mechanisms of adhesion and transendothelial migration of cancer cells using breast carcinoma cell lines," wrote S. Mine and colleagues, University of Occupational & Environmental Health, Department of Internal Medicine 1.

"Our results showed the following features of breast cancer cells:

1) HGF stimulated breast cancer cells by upregulating CD44 expression in a concentration-dependent manner;

2) the maximum level of HGF-induced CD44 upregulation on breast cancer cell lines occurred within 3 h;

3) HGF-induced upregulation of CD44 was mediated by the tyrosine kinase signaling pathway;