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Published on: March 31, 2023
SOX2 and ALDH1 as Predictors of Operable Breast Cancer
Hiroaki Shima1, Goro Kutomi2, Fukino Satomi2
1Department of Surgery, Surgical Oncology and Science, Sapporo Medical University, Sapporo, Japan simahiro@sapmed.ac.jp.
Aim:
Sex-determining region Y-box binding protein-2 (SOX2) and aldehyde dehydrogenase-1 (ALDH1) are known cancer stem-cell markers, and represent candidate predictors for breast cancer prognosis. In this study we investigated the relationships between SOX2/ALDH1 expression and prognosis.
Materials And Methods:
One hunred and two breast cancer surgical specimens were immunohistochemically analyzed for SOX2 and ALDH1 expression.
Results:
Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were significantly poorer for SOX2-positive patients than SOX2-negative (p=0.0024 and p=0.0021, respectively), and for ALDH1-positive patients than ALDH1-negative (p=0.0049 and p=0.0083). DFS and OS were worse for SOX2- or ALDH1-positive patients than double-negative (p=0.0053 and p=0.0166). While an obvious tendency toward worse DFS was seen for estrogen receptor (ER)-negative patients, and attenuated for ER-positive, only SOX2/ALDH1 any-positive patients showed significantly poorer DFS (p=0.0258).
Conclusion:
SOX2 and ALDH1 can be considered markers of poor prognosis, particularly in ER-negative patients. SOX2/ALDH1 any-positivity might also offer a reliable predictor of poor prognosis.

