BACKGROUND Cells within breast cancer stem cell populations have been confirmed to have a CD44(+)CD24(-) phenotype. Strong expression of CD44 plays a critical role in numerous types of human cancers. CD44 is involved in cell differentiation, adhesion, and metastasis of cancer cells. METHODS In this study, we reduced CD44 expression in CD44(+)CD24(-) breast cancer stem cells and investigated t...

Breast cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among women. Much of the morbidity and mortality is associated with metastasis or local recurrence. There has been significant research on what can cause breast cancer progression and resistance to treatment. Carcinomas are made of transformed cells contained within stromal cells, fibroblasts, and immune cells. Difficulty in determinin...

Cancer stem-like cells (CSC) have been widely studied, but their clinical relevance has yet to be established in breast cancer. Here, we report the establishment of primary breast tumor-derived xenografts (PDX) that encompass the main diversity of human breast cancer and retain the major clinicopathologic features of primary tumors. Successful engraftment was correlated with the presence of ALD...

OBJECTIVE CD44(+)/CD24(-/low) breast cancer cells have tumour-initiating properties with stem cell-like features. Breast cancer gene 1 (BRCA1) is a tumour suppressor gene that plays a crucial role in DNA repair and maintenance of chromosome stability. The clinicopatho- logical features of breast cancer in BRCA1 mutation carriers suggest that BRCA1 may function as a stem-cell regulator. MATERI...

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) [negative for expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors (ER, PR) and HER2÷neu protein] represent a subtype of breast cancer associated with poor prognosis and highly aggressive behavior. The characterization of stem cell in this type of carcinoma could determine the appearance of new ideas concerning origin and evolution. There is an impressive amoun...

In breast cancer it is never the primary tumour that is fatal; instead it is the development of metastatic disease which is the major cause of cancer related mortality. There is accumulating evidence that suggests that Cancer Stem Cells (CSC) may play a role in breast cancer development and progression. Breast cancer stem cell populations, including side population cells (SP), have been shown t...

Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a critical event in cancer progression and is closely linked to the breast epithelial cancer stem cell phenotype. Given the close interaction between the vascular endothelium and cancer cells, especially at the invasive front, we asked whether endothelial cells might play a role in EMT. Using a 3D culture model we demonstrate that endothelial cells ...

background: the monoclonal antibody, c595, against breast cancer cell line was conjugated with cyclic anhydride gadolinium-diethylenetriaminepenta-acetic acid (gd-cdtpaa) to produce gd-dtpa-c595 and used as specific breast cancer cell line (mcf-7) contrast agents in magnetic resonance imaging (mri).  methods: after incubation of breast cancer cell line (mcf-7), with different contrast agents (g...

The transcription factor SOX2 is essential for maintaining pluripotency in a variety of stem cells. It has important functions during embryonic development, is involved in cancer stem cell maintenance, and is often deregulated in cancer. The mechanism of SOX2 regulation has yet to be clarified, but the SOX2 gene lies in an intron of a long multi-exon non-coding RNA called SOX2 overlapping trans...

The present study explored the link between the targeting protein for Xenopus kinesin-like protein 2 (TPX2) gene and breast tumor stem cells in order to screen novel radiosensitizers. Expression of TPX2 protein and gene in breast cancer cells was analyzed by western blot analysis and RT-PCR. Three kinds of broad-spectrum sensitizers were selected and their effects on radiotherapy were analyzed ...