300 - The Percentage of CD44-/CD24-/Lin- Cells in Primary Breast Tumors and Correlation Between Prognostic Factors

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction Breast cancer (BC) is associated with different molecular profiles and histological types. Different histological types contain cells with different phenotype and genotype. Many hypotheses have been taken for understanding the causes of breast cancer's heterogenecity. One of these is breast cancer stem cell hypothesis. The hypothesis was proposed that cancers contain a subpopulation of cells similar to epithelial stem cells. There are many methods used for identification of BC stem cells. One of these methods is using cell surface markers. BC stem cells are defined by the phenotype CD44 + /CD24-/low/Lin-. The aim of this study is to investigate the percentages of CD44 + /CD24-/low/Lin- cells and the correlation between stem cells and prognostic factors in primary BC. Material and method Twenty three women who underwent surgery for BC between May 2010 and January 2011 were enrolled in this study. Fresh tumor tissues were broken up enzymatically and CD44 + /CD24-/low/Lin- cell phenotype was idendified by using surface marker antibodies. The percentage of this phenotype was determined by surface marker expression of the cells by using flowcytometry. Results The mean age of the patients (pts) was 47 and 52% had early stage BC. CD44 + /CD24-/low/Lin- cells were present in all tumor tissues and the mean percentage of these cells was 1.43 ± 1.16%. The percentage of CD44 + /CD24-/low/Lin- cells was higher in postmenopausal women, early stage, Her-2 negative and low grade tumors, but it was not statistically significant. There was inverse correlation between involved lymph node numbers and the percentage of CD44 + /CD24-/low/Lin- cells but it was not statistically significant. There was no statistically significant correlation between the percentage of CD44 + /CD24-/low/Lin- cells and menopausal status, stage, grade, number of lymph nodes, hormone reseptors and HER-2 status. Conclusion In our study CD44 + /CD24-/low/Lin- cells were present in all tumor tissues and the mean percentage of these cells was 1.43 ± 1.16% as shown in previous studies. But there was no statistically significant correlation between prognostic factors and the percentage of the CD44 + /CD24-/low/Lin- cells. Disclosure All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.