High CD44 Immunoexpression Correlates with Poor Overall Survival: Assessing the Role of Cancer Stem Cell Markers in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients from the High-Risk Population of Pakistan

Table 2

Immunoreactivity scoring criteria for all antibodies.

Antibody	No. of positive cells	Type of staining	Scoring	For statistical analysis	References
CD133	0	—	Negative (0)	Negative	[35]
	<30%	—	Weak (+/1)	Positive
	30–60%	—	Moderate (++/2)	Positive
	>60%	—	Strong (+++/3)	Positive
CD44	≤10% cells	Weakly stained	Negative (0)	Negative	[36]
	11–30% cells	Weakly stained	1 (low)	Low
	>30% weakly or <30% moderately stained		2 (low)	Low
	30%–60%	Moderately stained	3 (high)	High
	>60%	Moderately or strongly stained	4 (high)	High
L1CAM	0% = 0	None = 0	Intensity × % of positive cells = score		[37]
	<10% = 1	Weak = 1	0–2 = negative	Negative
	10–50% = 2	Moderate = 2	3–4 = weakly positive	Positive
	51–80% = 3	Strong = 3	6–8 = moderately positive	Positive
	>80% = 4		9–12 = strong	Positive
SOX2	<10%	—	Negative (0)	Negative	[38]
	10–50%	—	Weak (+/1)	Positive
	50–90%	—	Moderate (++/2)	Positive
	>90%	—	Strong (+++/3)	Positive