We analyzed the immunohistochemical expression of the @entity69786 , CD44v3, in 46 primary @entity1 @entity320 ( @entity320 ). This is the first time that the v3 splice variant of @entity1759 was found to be expressed in @entity1 @entity320 (15 of 46), ranging from 3% to 35% of the cell population in the positive @entity5 . The expression of CD44v3 was observed in @entity5 thicker than 1.0 mm, and one-third of these @entity5 proved to be positive irrespective of the thickness. @entity1 were followed for a minimum of 61 months. The onset of lymph node or organ metastases occurred not later than 58 months and 60 months, respectively. Of the 15 CD44v3 positive @entity5 , 14 were observed in the organ metastatic tumor group, comprising the majority of those cases (14 of 21), and this association proved to be statistically significant compared with the non-metastatic (P<0.05) and lymph-node metastatic cases (P<0.01). CD44v3 expression in @entity320 was also confirmed at the protein and messenger (mRNA) level in several @entity1 @entity320 cell lines using flow cytometry and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction analysis. In parallel to CD44v3, @entity1476 expression (determined using immunohistochemistry) was significantly elevated (P<0.05) but only in the organ metastatic group of MM. The 5-year survival of @entity1 having thicker @entity5 than 1.0 mm (where v3 expression occurred) who had CD44v3+ @entity5 was significantly lower than those of the negative ones (35.7% versus 68.2%, respectively; P=0.025). Finally, we observed that the CD44v3-expressing @entity5 were characterized by significantly higher @entity1476 expression than the CD44v3-negative @entity5 (P<0.001), indicating a possible correlation between CD44v3- and @entity1476 -positive phenotype and the organ metastatic potential of MM.

Expression of CD44v3 splice variant is associated with the visceral metastatic phenotype of @entity1 XXXX .

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['Patients', 'human', 'patients'] @entity1476 :: ('4313', 'Gene') :: ['MMP-2'] @entity5 :: ('MESH:D009369', 'Disease') :: ['tumors'] @entity1759 :: ('960', 'Gene') :: ['CD44'] @entity69786 :: ('284348', 'Gene') :: ['metastasis-associated protein'] @entity320 :: ('MESH:D008545', 'Disease') :: ['melanoma', 'malignant melanomas', 'MMs', 'melanomas']
@entity320 :: (MESH:D008545,Disease) :: ['melanoma']
