CD44 and cancer: We therefore evaluated the expression of a panel of epithelial (KRT5, 7, 8, 18, and CDH1), mesenchymal (VIM, FN1, SNAI1, TWIST1, COL1A1, and PRRX1), and cancer stem cell (ALDH1A2, ALDH7A1, CD44, and CCND1) markers in all samples.