Fig. 3

Correlation of the expression patterns of NANOG, mutant p53, and CD44 and the histological grade of OSCCs. a Tumors with enhanced expression of NANOG show a higher frequency of mutant p53 positivity (p = 0.002) and enhanced CD44 expression (p < 0.001). Similarly, OSCCs with positive expression of mutant p53 show higher expression of CD44 (p < 0.001). b Strong or moderate expression of NANOG is significantly related to histopathologically high-grade OSCCs (p < 0.001); however, weak or negative expression of NANOG correlates with well-differentiated carcinoma (p = 0.018). Moreover, positive mutant p53 expression is significantly associated with high-grade carcinoma (p < 0.001). Similarly, enhanced CD44 expression is associated with high-grade tumors, but no statistical significance was observed (p = 0.058). Data represent the number of cases with positive expression of each protein, and an asterisk (*) indicates significant differences (p < 0.05). [Abbreviations: NANOG(++/+++), strong or moderate expression of NANOG; NANOG(+/−), weak or negative expression of NANOG; p53(+), positive expression of mutant p53; p53(−), negative expression of mutant p53; CD44(++), more than moderate expression of CD44; CD44(+), weak expression of CD44; CD44(−), negative expression of CD44; Well, well-differentiated OSCCs; Mod + Poor, moderately and poorly differentiated OSCCs]