Dual role of CD44 isoforms in ampullary adenocarcinoma: CD44s predicts poor prognosis in early cancer and CD44ν is an indicator for recurrence in advanced cancer

Although postoperative adjuvant chemoradiotherapies prevent recurrence for some patients with ampullary cancer, the recurrence rate is as high as 29 % in patients with stage I cancer. In an effort to identify predictors of recurrence in patients with ampullary adenocarcinoma, we investigated the clinical value of assessing standard and variant forms of CD44.