title: The distribution of CD44+/CD24- cancer stem cells in breast cancer and its relationship with prognostic factors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between the percentages of CD44+/CD24- cancer stem cells (CSCs) and the clinicopathological and prognostic factors in breast cancer patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty three women who underwent surgery for breast cancer were enrolled in this study. The mean age of the patients was 46.65 years and 52% had early-stage disease. Tumor tissues obtained during surgery were digested enzymatically. CD44+/CD24- cell phenotype was identified by using surface marker antibodies and percentages were determined by surface marker expression of the cells.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty five percent of the tumors were positive for estrogen (ER)/ progesterone receptors (PR) and 38% of the tumors were positive for HER-2. All of the patients with hormone receptor positive tumors had ER positive tumors, while only 11 patients had PR positive breast cancer. CD44+/CD24- cells were present in all tumor tissues. The mean proportion of the CD44+/CD24- cells was 1.43±1.6. The mean percentages of CD18+ cells and MUC1+ were 27.9±26.5% and 6.07±11.34%, respectively. The percentage of CD18+ cells was significantly higher in PR positive tumors (p=0.042). There was no significant correlation between the percentage of CD44+/CD24- cells and clinicopathological features.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study showed that CD44+/CD24- cells were present in all tumor tissues. The percentage of CD44+/CD24- cells was higher in early-stage disease, yet without statistical significance. No correlation was found between prognostic factors and the percentage of the CD44+/CD24- cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Kocaeli University School of Medicine, Kocaeli, Turkey.
authors.forename: Devrim
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cabuk
authors.forename: Eylem
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yetimoglu
authors.forename: Turgay
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Simsek
authors.forename: Gulcin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gacar
authors.forename: Cansu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Subasi
authors.forename: Zafer
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Canturk
authors.forename: Cengiz
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ercin
authors.forename: Erdal
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Karaoz
authors.forename: Kazim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Uygun
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D051927:CD24 Antigen / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018960:Hyaluronan Receptors / Q000032:analysis*; D008408:Mastectomy; D008875:Middle Aged; D018396:Mucin-1 / Q000032:analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology; D010641:Phenotype; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000032:analysis; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000032:analysis; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone / Q000032:analysis; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D051927:CD24 Antigen; D018960:Hyaluronan Receptors; D018396:Mucin-1; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone; C497889:CD24 protein, human; C497483:CD44 protein, human; C060192:MUC1 protein, human; C508053:ERBB2 protein, human