Diversity of ER-positive and HER2-negative breast cancer stem cells attained using selective culture techniques

Breast cancer stem cells are a promising therapeutic target in cancer. We explored breast cancer stem cell diversity and establish a methodology for selectively culturing breast cancer stem cells. We collected breast cancer tissues from surgical samples of treatment-na & iuml;ve patients with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative breast cancer. Following isolation, cells were subjected to spheroid culture on non-adherent plates. Of the 57 cases, successful culture was achieved in 48 cases, among which the average ratio of CD44+/CD24- breast cancer cells increased from 13.8% in primary tumors to 61.6% in spheroids. A modest number of spheroid cells successfully engrafted in mice and subsequently re-differentiated within the murine environment, confirming their stemness. ER expression in spheroid cells exhibited negative conversion in 52.1% of cases. The proportion of Twist-, Snail-, and Vimentin-positive cells increased from 43.8%, 12.9%, and 7.7-75.0%, 58.1%, and 37.7%, respectively. ER-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer stem cells were classified into two groups using DNA microarrays. Gene Ontology analysis unveiled higher expression of immune response-related genes in one group and protein binding-associated genes in the other. We demonstrated stable and selective culture of breast cancer stem cells from patient-derived breast cancer tissue using spheroid cultures.