Characterization of EpCAM-Positive and EpCAM-Negative Tumor Cells in Early-Stage Breast Cancer.

International journal of molecular sciences 2024 Oct 16

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Most studies on CTCs have focused on isolating cells that express EpCAM. In this study, we emphasize the presence of EpCAM-negative and EpCAMlow CTCs, in addition to EpCAMhigh CTCs, in early BC. We evaluated stem cell markers (CD44/CD24 and CD133) and EMT markers (N-cadherin) in each subpopulation. Our findings indicate that all stemness variants were present in both EpCAMhigh and EpCAM-negative CTCs, whereas only one variant of stemness (nonCD44+CD24-/CD133+) was observed among EpCAMlow CTCs. Nearly all EpCAMhigh CTCs were represented by CD133+ stem cells. Notably, the hybrid EMT phenotype was more prevalent among EpCAM-negative CTCs. scRNA-seq of isolated CTCs and primary tumor partially confirmed this pattern. Therefore, further investigation is imperative to elucidate the prognostic significance of EpCAM-negative and EpCAMlow CTCs.

Citation

Vladimir M Perelmuter, Evgeniya S Grigoryeva, Vladimir V Alifanov, Anna Yu Kalinchuk, Elena S Andryuhova, Olga E Savelieva, Ivan A Patskan, Olga D Bragina, Evgeniy Yu Garbukov, Mariya A Vostrikova, Marina V Zavyalova, Evgeny V Denisov, Nadezhda V Cherdyntseva, Liubov A Tashireva. Characterization of EpCAM-Positive and EpCAM-Negative Tumor Cells in Early-Stage Breast Cancer. International journal of molecular sciences. 2024 Oct 16;25(20)