Introduction: CD44 is a cell adhesion molecule assumed to be related to tumour invasion and metastatic ability and is expressed in variety of tumours including meningiomas.
Aim: To evaluate the immunohistochemical expression of CD44 in variable grades and variants of eningioma and to correlate the results with Ki-67 proliferation index and available clinicopathologic variables.
Materials and methods: A total of 40 meningioma cases were studied for immunohistochemical expression of CD44 and Ki-67 and correlated with different clinicopathologic variables. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: CD44 was markedly expressed in high grade (II and III) meningioma (81.8%) compared to grade I (18.2%) and that was statistically significant (p<0.001). Ki-67 proliferation activity was significantly correlated with meningioma grade (p<0.001) and brain invasiveness (p=0.033). Moreover, statistically positive correlation (p=0.01) was reported between CD44 and Ki-67 proliferative activity. No statistically significant correlation was detected between CD44 or Ki-67 expression and patients' age, sex, and tumour recurrence rate (p>0.05).
Conclusion: We concluded that CD44 is a marker of aggressiveness in meningioma as it was significantly highly expressed in grade II and III meningioma and was, positively correlated with higher Ki-67 proliferation indices. Therefore, researches should be carried out to identify the role of CD44 targeted therapy in atypical and anaplastic meningiomas as done in other tumours e.g., breast cancer.
Keywords: Immunohistochemical; Ki-67; Meningioma.