@article {KRAWCZYK2849, author = {NATALIA KRAWCZYK and KATHRIN JANOWSKI and MAGGIE BANYS-PALUCHOWSKI and ANNETTE STAEBLER and HANS NEUBAUER and CHRISTOPH MEISNER and ANDREAS HARTKOPF and SARA BRUCKER and DIETHELM WALLWIENER and TANJA FEHM}, title = {The SOX2 Status of Disseminated Tumor Cells in Breast Cancer Patients Treated With Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy}, volume = {41}, number = {6}, pages = {2849--2858}, year = {2021}, doi = {10.21873/anticanres.15066}, publisher = {International Institute of Anticancer Research}, abstract = {Background/Aim: Detection of disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) after systemic treatment predicts poor prognosis in breast cancer patients. The aim of our study was to assess the expression of stem-cell marker SOX2 on DTCs and in the primary tumor of patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAT). Materials and Methods: In 170 DTC-positive patients after NAT an additional slide of bone marrow aspirate was stained by double immunofluorescence to detect SOX2-positive DTCs. The SOX2 status of the primary tumor was assessed using the same antibody. Results: The SOX2-status of DTCs was determined in 62 patients and 20 of those (32\%) had SOX2 positive DTCs. The SOX2 status of DTCs was not associated with any of the clinicopathological factors. A total of 36\% of the patients with a SOX2-negative tumor showed SOX2-positive persistent DTCs. Conclusion: SOX2-positive DTCs can be detected in breast cancer patients after NAT, even in patients with SOX2-negative primary tumors. This suggests that these populations may have evolved independently of each other.}, issn = {0250-7005}, URL = {https://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/41/6/2849}, eprint = {https://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/41/6/2849.full.pdf}, journal = {Anticancer Research} }