CD44 and neoplasm: Specifically, regulatory variants within CHI3L2 (rs684559) and CD44 (rs353630) were found to be associated with an over 2-fold increased risk of tumor-related death in two independent retrospective PDAC study cohorts from Europe and the United States (hazard ratio [HR] 0.38, 95% CI 0.27-0.53; P=1×10–8, q value<.05) [11].