The standard form of CD44 (CD44s) and CD44 isoforms, containing sequences encoded by one or several of 10 different variant CD44 exons (v1-v10), are thought to play a crucial role in the growth and metastasis of certain human tumors. Recently, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) directed against all CD44 isoforms (panCD44), or against epitopes encoded by specific variant exons (CD44v) have been developed, which unfortunately only stain cryopreserved tissues. We wished to develop a technique to unmask chemically CD44s and CD44v epitopes in paraffin-embedded specimens of human skin cancers, so that they would be accessible for these mAbs. To address this issue, CD44s and CD44v expression was compared in cryopreserved and in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded biopsies obtained from the same basal cell carcinomas (BCC), squamous cell carcinomas (SCC), primary malignant melanomas (PMM) and metastatic malignant melanomas (MMM). Formalin-fixed tumors were deparaffinized and treated briefly with an antigen retrieval fluid (TUFTM) at 95 degrees C or left untreated. In untreated paraffin-embedded tissues, no CD44s or CD44v staining was detected. In contrast, in antigen retrieval fluid-treated biopsies CD44s and CD44v expression was identical to that in cryopreserved specimens of the same tumor with the exception of mAbs detecting v7/8 and v10. We conclude that antigen retrieval unmasks certain epitopes in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues, thus facilitating future research on the relevance of CD44s and CD44v expression for human skin carcinogenesis.