Vera Aparecida Saddi, Elbio Cândido de Paula, Gabriela Moura de Paula, Wilmar José Manoel, Thalles Eduardo Dias dos Santos, Antônio Márcio Teodoro Cordeiro Silva, Pedro Perillo Magalhães Disconzi de Sá
Institution: Universidade Federal de Goias
The aim of this study was to examine, through meta-analysis, the studies that investigated the possible associations between tumor-initiating cells, defined by CD44+/CD24-/low phenotype and ALDH expression, by using immunohistochemistry, and some prognostic aspects of breast cancer. Twenty studies met the inclusion criteria for this meta-analysis, 13 evaluated the CD44+/CD24-/lowphenotype, 11 evaluated the expression of ALDH, and four evaluated both markers. The results demonstrated statistically significant associations between the triple negative phenotype and the CITs, including both the expression of CD44+/CD24-/lowphenotype (p < 0.0001), as the expression of ALDH (p = 0.0004). Associations investigated for HER2 overexpression presented conflicting results, whereas CD44+/CD24-/lowphenotype was not significantly associated with this parameter (p = 0.1989), ALDH expression was significantly associated with HER2 (p < 0.0001). An inverse association, however, statistically significant, was observed between the presence of lymphnode metastases and CD44+/CD24-/low phenotype (p = 0.0047), while the expression of ALDH was not significantly associated with this parameter (p = 2019). Based on the analyses, we concluded that the cell markers, CD44+/CD24-/low and ALDH, represent an important tool in identifying tumor initiating cells in breast carcinomas and that statistical associations observed in this study raise important perspectives for developing molecular therapies based on presence of the CD44+/CD24-/low phenotype and ALDH expression in the treatment of triple-negative breast carcinomas. Ke