Semaphorin 4F as a critical regulator of neuroepithelial interactions and a biomarker of aggressive prostate cancer.

Background: Semaphorin 4F (S4F) has roles in embryologic axon guidance and is expressed in adults. S4F is involved in cancer-induced neurogenesis.

Methods: Prostate cells were transfected with S4F retrovirus.

Cancer stem cell markers are enriched in normal tissue adjacent to triple negative breast cancer and inversely correlated with DNA repair deficiency.

Introduction: We hypothesized that cells present in normal tissue that bear cancer stem cell markers may represent a cancer cell of origin or a microenvironment primed for tumor development, and that their presence may correlate with the clinically defined subtypes of breast cancer that show increased tumorigenicity and stem cell features. methods: Normal tissues sampled at least 5 cm from primary tumors (normal adjacent tissue) were obtained from 61 chemotherapy-naive patients with breast cancer treated with mastectomy. Samples were stained simultaneously with immunofluorescence for CD44/CD49f/CD133/2 stem cell markers.