CD44 signaling activates oxidative stress pathways, induces HIF1α-driven metabolic shifts under hypoxia, and promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a process in which epithelial cells lose polarity and cell-cell adhesion while acquiring mesenchymal traits, leading to increased motility and invasiveness.16 This enhances metastatic potential, plasticity, and stemness in treatment-resistant cancer cells.14,17,18. Here, CD44 is linked to cancer.