Objective To study the relationship between expression of nm23, CD44 in gastric carcinoma and lymph-node metastasis and prognosis. Methods Expression of nm 23, CD44H and CD44V6 in 105 cases of gastric carcinoma were assayed by immunohistochemistry. Among them, 59 cases were followed up. Results The incidences of nm23, CD44H and CD44V6 protein positivity in gastric carcinoma were 44.8%, 54.3% and 48.6% respectively. The positive expression of nm23, CD44V6 protein in human gastric carcinoma tissues was related to the differentiation, depth of invasion, TNM stage and prognosis (Ｐ＜0.05), but expression of CD44H was not correlated with other clinicopathologic indices. The reactivity to these three antibodies were correlate with metastasis of lymph nodes (Ｐ＜0.01 for CD44V6 and Ｐ＜0.05 for nm23, CD44H). Conclusion Expression of the standard form of CD44 (CD44H) might be useful in observing the progression of the disease, wile CD44V6 and nm23 hold promise as a prognostic indicator.
