Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1-Positive Cancer Stem Cells Mediate Metastasis and Poor Clinical Outcome in Inflammatory Breast Cancer

Abstract Purpose: To examine the role of cancer stem cells (CSC) in mediating metastasis in inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) and the association of these cells with patient outcome in this aggressive type of breast cancer. Experimental Design: CSCs were isolated from SUM149 and MARY-X, an IBC cell line and primary xenograft, by virtue of increased aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity as assessed by the ALDEFLUOR assay. Invasion and metastasis of CSC populations were assessed by in vitro and mouse xenograft assays. Expression of ALDH1 was determined on a retrospective series of 109 IBC patients and this was correlated with histoclinical data. All statistical tests were two sided. Log-rank …