CD44 and cancer: CD44 interacts with numerous ECM components including hyaluronan, fibronectin, laminin, proteoglycans such as serglycin and biglycan, growth factors, cytokines and growth factor receptors activating oncogenic signaling that support cancer cell progression and metastasis by regulating cancer cell stemness, survival, proliferation, adhesion and invasion [12, 23, 24, 31].