CD44 is a marker of endocervical neoplasia

The expression of CD44s, CD44v4, CD44v5, CD44v7-8, and CD44v10 was investigated immunohistochemically in a variety of neoplastic cervical lesions. Normal endocervical columnar cells exhibited no reactivity for any of the antibodies, whereas the subcolumnar reserve cells were strongly positive for CD44s, CD44v5, and CD44v7-8. In some cases, positive cells were identified in the stroma surrounding the endocervical glands and adjacent to reserve cells. Cervical glandular intraepithelial neoplasia and adenocarcinoma showed consistent immunoreactivity for CD44v5. There was no significant change in CD44 immunoreactivity in squamous cell carcinoma compared with normal epithelia and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. These findings lend support to the origin of carcinoma of the cervix from a common progenitor reserve cell and suggest the origin of reserve cells from the stroma. CD44v5 may be useful as a diagnostic marker of endocervical neoplasia and could provide a target for therapeutic approaches directed against specific epitopes.