PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - NATALIA KRAWCZYK
AU  - KATHRIN JANOWSKI
AU  - MAGGIE BANYS-PALUCHOWSKI
AU  - ANNETTE STAEBLER
AU  - HANS NEUBAUER
AU  - CHRISTOPH MEISNER
AU  - ANDREAS HARTKOPF
AU  - SARA BRUCKER
AU  - DIETHELM WALLWIENER
AU  - TANJA FEHM
TI  - The SOX2 Status of Disseminated Tumor Cells in Breast Cancer Patients Treated With Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy
AID  - 10.21873/anticanres.15066
DP  - 2021 Jun 01
TA  - Anticancer Research
PG  - 2849--2858
VI  - 41
IP  - 6
4099  - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/41/6/2849.short
4100  - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/41/6/2849.full
SO  - Anticancer Res2021 Jun 01; 41
AB  - 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.