Is high expression of stem cell marker ALDH1 associated with reduced BRCA1 in invasive breast carcinomas?
Taken together, our findings suggest that increased ALDH1 is inversely correlated with decreased BRCA1 in a series of unselected breast carcinomas. Therefore, ALDH1 positive (cancer stem) cells with reduced BRCA1 phenotype may indicate a subset of patients for whom specific targeting of the CSC marker ALDH1 and more aggressive adjuvant treatment is appropriate.
These data identify cellular and molecular phenomena potentially underlying the response to CRET and indicate that CRET-induced lesion repair could be mediated by stimulation of the proliferation of stem cells present in the injured tissues.