Aldehyde dehydrogenase and estrogen receptor define a hierarchy of cellular differentiation in the normal human mammary epithelium.

Introduction: Although estrogen and progesterone play a key role in normal mammary development and in breast cancer, the potential for proliferation and lineage differentiation as well as origin of cells that express the estrogen receptor (ER) in normal breast epithelium are not known. Some evidence suggests that normal human mammary stem/progenitor cells are ER-, but the identity of these cells and the cellular hierarchy of breast epithelium are still subjects of controversy. It is likely that elucidation of these aspects will bring insight into the cellular origin of breast cancer subtypes.

Breast cancer cell lines contain functional cancer stem cells with metastatic capacity and a distinct molecular signature.

Tumors may be initiated and maintained by a cellular subcomponent that displays stem cell properties. We have used the expression of aldehyde dehydrogenase as assessed by the ALDEFLUOR assay to isolate and characterize cancer stem cell (CSC) populations in 33 cell lines derived from normal and malignant mammary tissue. Twenty-three of the 33 cell lines contained an ALDEFLUOR-positive population that displayed stem cell properties in vitro and in NOD/SCID xenografts.

The significance of c-erbB-2 overexpression and p53 expression in patients with axillary lymph node--negative breast cancer: a tissue microarray study.

We conducted this study to examine whether the expression of c-erbB-2 and p53 is the prognostic indicator for patients with early-stage breast cancer in which axillary lymph node metastasis is absent. We examined 326 patients with early-stage breast cancer in which axillary lymph node metastasis is absent. Tissue microarrays were constructed.