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An adult tissue-specific stem cell molecular phenotype is activated in epithelial cancer stem cells and correlated to patient outcome

Thomas Hussenet, Doulaye Dembélé, Nadine Martinet, Jean-Michel Vignaud and Stanislas du Manoir

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Recent studies have shown that embryonic stem cell-like molecular phenotypes are commonly activated in human epithelial primary tumors and are linked to adverse patient prognosis. However it remains unclear whether these correlations to outcome are linked to the differentiation status of the human primary tumours1 or represent molecular reminiscences of epithelial cancer stem cells. In addition, while it has been demonstrated that leukemic cancer stem cells re-acquire an embryonic stem cell-like phenotype, the molecular basis of stem cell function in epithelial cancer stem cells has not been investigated. Here we show that a normal adult tissue-specific stem cell molecular phenotype is commonly activated in epithelial cancer stem cells and for the first time provide evidence that enrichment in cancer stem cells-specific molecular signatures are correlated to highly aggressive tumor phenotypes in human epithelial cancers.

Authors

Thomas Hussenet Corresponding author: hussenet@igbmc.fr

Université de Strasbourg UMR 7104; Illkirch, France

Doulaye Dembélé

Université de Strasbourg UMR 7104; Illkirch, France

Nadine Martinet

Hôpital Saint-Louis; Paris, France

Jean-Michel Vignaud

INSERM U954; Nancy, France

Stanislas du Manoir Corresponding author: dumanoir@igbmc.fr

Université de Strasbourg UMR 7104; Illkirch, France

This is an open-access article

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If the document does not open, please right-click on the link (control-click on a Macintosh) and select the option to save the file to disk.