HER2-expressing breast tumors are associated with breast cancer stem-cell phenotype CD44+/CD24-

• Autor(a) principal: Rabinovich,Iris
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Outros Autores: Noronha,Lúcia de, Sebastião,Ana Paula M., Lima,Rubens S., Urban,Cícero A., Schunemann Jr.,Eduardo, Elífio-Esposito,Selene, Spautz,Cleverton C., Moreno-Amaral,Andréa N.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Jornal Brasileiro de Patologia e Medicina Laboratorial (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1676-24442018000500310
• topic: breast neoplasms; neoplastic stem cells; CD44 antigens; CD24 antigens; breast ductal carcinoma

ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION: According to the cancer stem-cell theory, tumors originate from a small population of cancer stem cells, which lose the mechanism of self-regulation and begin to differentiate and proliferate indefinitely. The CD44+/CD24- phenotype may be considered a stem-cell marker in breast cancer. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the correlation between CD44+/CD24- phenotype and different molecular subtypes of breast cancer in invasive ductal carcinoma samples. METHODS: The expression of CD44, CD44v6, and CD24 markers was investigated in 133 cases of invasive mammary carcinoma with immunohistochemistry. CD44+/CD24- phenotype was identified and correlated with the molecular subtypes and classical prognostic factors such as age, histological grade, tumor size, and lymph node status. RESULTS: Eighteen (14%) cases were positive for CD44+/CD24- (CD44+/CD24- or CD44v6+/CD24-) phenotype; among these, 11.1%, 27.8%, 38.9%, and 22.2% were luminal, luminal B-human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), HER2, and triple-negative subtype, respectively. CD44+/ CD24- phenotype was more common in HER2 subgroup (p = 0.0197). CONCLUSION: CD44+/CD24- phenotype was correlated with molecular subtypes of breast cancer. The highest expression of CD44+/CD24- phenotype was reported in patients with HER2+ disease, a molecular subtype associated with more aggressive behavior and worse prognosis.