Breast Cancer Stem Cell Markers

Introduction and Aims: Breast cancer remains the most common type of cancer worldwide, accounting for the second leading cause of death and the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women with ۲۴.۲% of all new cancer cases. Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease in terms of cellular morphology and clinical outcomes. Accumulating evidence suggests that the presence of a small subpopulation of undifferentiated cells, termed breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs), are most likely give rise to tumor progression, spreading and resistance to conventional therapy.Search Method: In this review, we aimed to investigate the cancer stem cell markers in breast cancer. For this purpose, we investigated the databases, including Science Direct, PubMed, Wiley, Scopus, and Springer.Results: Stem cells are defined by three features: differentiation, self-renewal, and homeostasis control which are essential for the function of the body. Hierarchical organization of cancer cells show different divergent biomarkers. Most studies demonstrated the presence of EpCAM, CD۴۴, CD۴۹f, and ALDH markers in BCSCs. However, CD۴۴ and ALDH۱ showed common markers expressed in most BCSCs.Conclusion: CD۴۴ and ALDH۱ were found to be highly expressed in BCSCs which can offer a new opportunity for targeted therapy.

Keywords:

breast cancer , breast cancer stem cells , markers , targeted therapy