Table 3. Relationship between CD44 isoform expression at the invasive tumour front and clinicopathological variables.

(a) CD44s expression at invasive tumour front
	Positive	Negative		Multivariate analysis
Variables	n=13 (10.6%)	n=110 (89.4%)	P-value	Odds ratio	95% CI	P-value
Gender
Male	10(12.0%)	73(88.0%)
Female	3(7.5%)	37(92.5%)	0.442
Age
<65 years	5(12.8%)	34(87.2%)
⩾65 years	8(9.5%)	76(90.5%)	0.58
Depth of invasion
pT1/pT2	6(9.2%)	59(90.8%)
pT3/pT4	7(12.1%)	51(87.9%)	0.609
LN metastasis
pN0	5(7.1%)	65(92.9%)
pN1/pN2/pN3	8(15.1%)	45(84.9%)	0.155
Lympatic invasion
Negative	3(9.4%)	29(90.6%)
Positive	10(11.0%)	81(89.0%)	0.798
Blood vessel invasion
Negative	2(4.9%)	39(95.1%)
Positive	11(13.4%)	71(866%)	0.147
Tumour size
<5 cm	6(8.7%)	63(91.3%)
⩾5 cm	7(13.0%)	47(87.0%)	0.423
Histological type
Differentiated	6(8.2%)	67(91.8%)
Undifferentiated	7(14.0%)	43(86.0%)	0.306

(b) CD44v6 expression at invasive tumour front
	Positive	Negative		Multivariate analysis
Variables	n=79 (64.2%)	n=44 (35.8%)	P-value	Odds ratio	95% CI	P-value
Gender
Male	51(61.4%)	32(38.6%)
Female	28(70.0%)	12(30.0%)	0.354
Age
<65 years	25(64.1%)	14(35.9%)
⩾65 years	54(64.3%)	30(35.7%)	0.984
Depth of invasion
pT1/pT2	34(52.3%)	31(47.7%)
pT3/pT4	45(77.6%)	13(22.4%)	0.004a	2.4	0.77–7.52	0.131
LN metastasis
pN0	40(57.1%)	30(42.9%)
pN1/pN2/pN3	39(73.6%)	14(26.4%)	0.06	1.34	0.431–4.15	0.614
Lympatic invasion
Negative	14(43.8%)	18(56.3%)
Positive	65(71.4%)	26(28.6%)	0.005a	1.81	0.59–5.52	0.3
Blood vessel invasion
Negative	20(48.8%)	21(51.2%)
Positive	59(72.0%)	23(28.0%)	0.011a	1.41	0.51–3.94	0.508
Tumour size
<5 cm	40(58.8%)	29(42.0%)
⩾5 cm	39(72.2%)	15(27.8%)	0.118
Histological type
Differentiated	44(60.3%)	29(39.7%)
Undifferentiated	35(70.0%)	15(30.0%)	0.269

(c) CD44v9 expression at invasive tumour front
	Positive	Negative		Multivariate analysis
Variables	n=47 (38.2%)	n=76 (61.8%)	P-value	Odds ratio	95% CI	P-value
Gender
Male	30(36.1%)	53(63.9%)
Female	17(42.5%)	23(57.5%)	0.497
Age
<65 years	10(25.6%)	29(74.4%)
⩾65 years	37(44.0%)	47(56.0%)	0.051	2.07	0.87–4.89	0.099
Depth of invasion
pT1/pT2	20(30.8%)	45(69.2%)
pT3/pT4	27(46.6%)	31(53.4%)	0.072	1.23	0.43–3.48	0.701
LN metastasis
pN0	23(32.9%)	47(67.1%)
pN1/pN2/pN3	24(45.3%)	29(54.7%)	0.16
Lympatic invasion
Negative	8(25.0%)	24(75.0%)
Positive	39(42.9%)	52(57.1%)	0.074	1.38	0.46–4.17	0.569
Blood vessel invasion
Negative	14(34.1%)	27(65.9%)
Positive	33(40.2%)	49(59.8%)	0.512
Tumour size
<5 cm	21(30.4%)	48(69.6%)
⩾5 cm	26(48.1%)	28(51.9%)	0.036a	1.57	0.59–4.15	0.365
Histological type
Differentiated	26(35.6%)	47(64.4%)
Undifferentiated	21(42.0%)	29(58.0%)	0.474

Abbreviations: CD44s=CD44 standard isoform; CD44v6=CD44 variant isoform 6; CD44v9=CD44 variant isoform 9; CI=confidence interval; LN=lymph node.

^aStatistically significant.