引言  CD44是一种多结构和多功能的跨膜糖蛋白，是一种有前途的癌症干细胞标记物，调节着干细胞的自我更新、肿瘤起始和转移能力，并赋予耐药性。本研究旨在评估CD44基因和蛋白表达，并探讨其在头颈鳞状细胞癌（HNSCC）中的预后价值。方法  本次观察性研究采用计算工具进行分析。利用阿拉巴马大学伯明翰分校癌症平台的癌症基因组图谱头颈鳞状细胞癌数据集（520例原发性HNSCC和44例正常组织），研究CD44 mRNA转录水平与HNSCC的各种临床病理特征（包括年龄、性别、肿瘤分级、肿瘤分期、人乳头瘤病毒（HPV）状态、p53突变状态和总体生存）的关联。利用美国国家癌症研究所的临床蛋白质肿瘤分析联盟头颈癌数据集（108例原发性HNSCC和71例正常组织）确定HNSCC和正常组织中的CD44蛋白表达情况。结果  HNSCC组织中CD44 mRNA转录和蛋白表达水平均明显高于正常组织，高CD44表达与恶性预后相关。CD44在1期和2级HNSCC中上调，与其他分期和分级相比。HNSCC中观察到CD44在HPV阴性和TP53阳性突变状态中过表达。结论  CD44在肿瘤发生中有多种作用，迫使我们需要探索其在HNSCC中的差异表达。本研究得出结论，CD44可能成为HNSCC的潜在诊断和预后生物标志物，并为CD44靶向治疗癌症提供新的分子靶点。作者（们）。本文为Thieme出版的一篇开放获取文章，根据创作共用许可证，原始作品可自由使用、分发和重制，只要原始作品得到正确引用即可。（ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ）。

Introduction  CD44, a multistructural and multifunctional transmembrane glycoprotein, is a promising cancer stem cell (CSC) marker that regulates the properties of CSCs, including self-renewal, tumor initiation, and metastasis, and confers resistance to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the gene and protein expression of CD44 and explore its prognostic value in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Methodology  The present observational study employs computational tools for analysis. The Cancer Genome Atlas Head-Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma dataset (520 primary HNSCC and 44 normal tissues) from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Cancer platform was used to study the association of CD44 mRNA transcript levels with various clinicopathological characteristics of HNSCC including age, gender, tumor grade, tumor stage, human papillomavirus (HPV) status, p53 mutation status, and overall survival. The CD44 protein expression in HNSCC and normal tissues was ascertained using the National Cancer Institute's Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium Head-and-Neck cancer dataset (108 primary HNSCC and 71 normal tissues). Results  CD44 mRNA transcript and protein expression levels were significantly higher in HNSCC tissues than in normal tissues, and high CD44 expression was correlated with poor survival. CD44 was upregulated in Stage 1 and Grade 2 HNSCC compared with other stages and grades. Overexpression of CD44 was observed in HPV-negative and TP53-positive mutant status in HNSCC. Conclusion  The pleiotropic roles of CD44 in tumorigenesis urge the need to explore its differential expression in HNSCC. The study concludes that CD44 can be a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for HNSCC and offer new molecular targets for CD44-targeted therapy for cancer management.The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ).