PLoS ONE (Jan 2023)

Less demand on stem cell marker-positive cancer cells may characterize metastasis of colon cancer

  • Takeshi Kaida,
  • Yoshiki Fujiyama,
  • Takafumi Soeno,
  • Mitsuo Yokota,
  • Shuji Nakamoto,
  • Takuya Goto,
  • Akiko Watanabe,
  • Kota Okuno,
  • Yusuke Nie,
  • Shiori Fujino,
  • Kazuko Yokota,
  • Hiroki Harada,
  • Yoko Tanaka,
  • Toshimichi Tanaka,
  • Keigo Yokoi,
  • Ken Kojo,
  • Hirohisa Miura,
  • Takahiro Yamanashi,
  • Takeo Sato,
  • Jiichiro Sasaki,
  • Takafumi Sangai,
  • Naoki Hiki,
  • Yusuke Kumamoto,
  • Takeshi Naitoh,
  • Keishi Yamashita

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 18, no. 4

Abstract

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Background CD44 and CD133 are stem cell markers in colorectal cancer (CRC). CD44 has distinctive isoforms with different oncological properties like total CD44 (CD44T) and variant CD44 (CD44V). Clinical significance of such markers remains elusive. Methods Sixty colon cancer were examined for CD44T/CD44V and CD133 at mRNA level in a quantitative PCR, and clarified for their association with clinicopathological factors. Results (1) Both CD44T and CD44V showed higher expression in primary colon tumors than in non-cancerous mucosas (pConclusion Our transcript expression analysis of cancer stem cell markers did not conclude that their expression could represent aggressive phenotypes of primary and metastatic tumors, and rather represented less demand on stem cell marker-positive cancer cells.