Kristiansen G et al. (2004) CD24 expression is a significant predictor of PSA relapse and poor prognosis in low grade or organ confined prostate cancer. Prostate 58: 183–192

As part of the search for new prognostic markers in prostate cancer, Kristiansen et al. have studied the expression of CD24, a small, glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol-linked cell surface protein thought to be involved in metastasis.

Using tissue from 102 adenocarcinomas of the prostate and 31 nodal metastases, the investigators assessed the level of expression of CD24 immunohistochemically, and assigned a semiquantitative score for each sample. They then related these findings to clinicopathologic parameters measured during the median follow-up period of 30.5 months.

Although rare in normal tissue, CD24 expression was observed in almost half (48%) of the primary prostate cancer samples. Furthermore, the protein was detected in 68% of the nodal metastases. In a multivariate analysis, CD24 expression in primary tumors strongly predicted earlier disease progression—as indicated by prostate-specific antigen relapse—with a relative risk of 3.2 (P = 0.005). This new prognostic marker appeared to be a more influential predictor of disease progression than pT stage or preoperative prostate-specific antigen level.

Concluding that the measurement of CD24 expression might provide a useful means of risk stratification in prostate cancer, the authors remark that the protein is overexpressed in several other solid tumors and so may have a role as a general prognostic tumor marker.