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. 2018 Jan 6;18(1):49.
doi: 10.1186/s12885-017-3951-8.

Stromal CD10 expression in breast cancer correlates with tumor invasion and cancer stem cell phenotype

Tahani Louhichi  1 , Hanene Saad  1 , Myriam Ben Dhiab  1 , Sonia Ziadi  1 , Mounir Trimeche  2
Affiliations

Stromal CD10 expression in breast cancer correlates with tumor invasion and cancer stem cell phenotype

Tahani Louhichi et al. BMC Cancer. .

Abstract

Background: Previous investigations have indicated that CD10 is associated with biological aggressivity in human cancers, but the use of this marker for diagnosis and prognosis is more complex. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of CD10 in breast cancer and its association with the clinicopathological features. In addition, we investigated whether a relationship exists between CD10 expression and cancer stem cells.

Methods: CD10 expression was examined by the immunohistochemistry in a series of 133 invasive breast carcinoma cases. Results were correlated to several clinicopathological parameters. Cancer stem cell phenotype was assessed by the immunohistochemical analysis of CD44 and ALDH1.

Results: Significant CD10 expression was found in the fusiform stromal cells in 19.5% of the cases and in the neoplastic cells in 7% of the cases. The stromal CD10 positivity was more frequently found in tumors with lymph node metastasis (p = 0.01) and a high histological grade (p = 0.01). However, CD10 expression by the neoplastic cells correlates with a high histological grade (p = 0.03) and the absence of estrogen (p = 0.002) as well as progesterone (p = 0.001) receptor expression. We also found that CD10 expression by the stromal cells, but not by the neoplastic cells, correlates significantly with the expression of cancer stem cell markers (CD44+/ALDH1+) (p = 0.002).

Conclusion: These findings support the role of the stromal CD10 expression in breast cancer progression and dissemination, and suggest a relationship with cancer stem cells.

Keywords: ALDH1; Breast cancer; CD10; CD44; Cancer stem cell.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study was approved by the National Medical Ethics Committee founded by the ministry of public health according to Tunisian low (art.8, n°91–93). All participants agreed to participate in the study. A written informed consent was obtained from all participants.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Patterns of CD10 expression in breast cancer. a, b strong CD10 positivity in the fusiform stromal cells, c, d in the neoplastic cells, and e in the normal myofibroblastic/basal layer cells of the adjacent non-tumoral acini and tubules. f negative control obtained by replacing the primary antibody by an universal IgG antibody (immunoperoxydase, scale bare = 0.1 mm, ×100 and ×400)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Kaplan-Meier curves of (a, b) overall survival and (c, d) disease-free survival according to CD10 expression status in patients’ with breast cancer. Follow-up data were only available for 74 patients in our series
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Examples of immunostaining for CD44 and ALDH1 in breast cancer. a, b strong membranous expression of CD44, and d, e cytoplasmic for ALDH1, in almost all the neoplastic cells. c, f negative control for CD44 and ALDH1 obtained by replacing the primary antibody by an universal IgG antibody (scale bare = 0.1 mm, ×100 and ×400)
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Double immunohistochemical staining (a) for CD44 (red staining) and CD10 (brown staining), and (b) for ALDH1 (red staining) and CD10 (brown staining) (scale bare = 0.1 mm, ×200)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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