Immunohistochemical analysis of aldehyde dehydrogenase isoforms and their association with estrogen-receptor status and disease progression in breast cancer

Lynn M Opdenaker1 Center for Translational Cancer Research, Helen F Graham Cancer Center, Christiana Care Health Services, Inc., Newark, Delaware, USA;2 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA

Kimberly M Arnold1 Center for Translational Cancer Research, Helen F Graham Cancer Center, Christiana Care Health Services, Inc., Newark, Delaware, USA;3 Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA

Ryan T Pohlig3 Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA;4 Biostatistics Core Facility, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA

Jayasree S Padmanabhan1 Center for Translational Cancer Research, Helen F Graham Cancer Center, Christiana Care Health Services, Inc., Newark, Delaware, USA

Daniel C Flynn1 Center for Translational Cancer Research, Helen F Graham Cancer Center, Christiana Care Health Services, Inc., Newark, Delaware, USA;3 Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA

Jennifer Sims-Mourtada1 Center for Translational Cancer Research, Helen F Graham Cancer Center, Christiana Care Health Services, Inc., Newark, Delaware, USA;2 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA;3 Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USACorrespondence[email protected]

Abstract

In many types of tumors, especially breast tumors, aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity has been used to identify cancer stem-like cells within the tumor. The presence and quantity of these cells are believed to predict the response of tumors to chemotherapy. Therefore, identification and eradication of these cells would be necessary to cure the patient. However, there are 19 different ALDH isoforms that could contribute to the enzyme activity. ALDH1A1 and ALDH1A3 are among the isoforms mostly responsible for the increased ALDH activity observed in these stem-like cells, although the main isoforms vary in different tissues and tumor types. In the study reported here, we attempted to determine if ALDH1A1 or ALDH1A3, specifically, correlate with tumor stage, grade, and hormone-receptor status in breast-cancer patients. While there was no significant correlation between ALDH1A1 and any of the parameters tested, we were able to identify a positive correlation between ALDH1A3 and tumor stage in triple-negative cancers. In addition, ALDH1A3 was negatively correlated with estrogen-receptor status. Our data suggest that ALDH1A3 could be utilized as a marker to identify stem-like cells within triple-negative tumors.

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Immunohistochemical analysis of aldehyde dehydrogenase isoforms and their association with estrogen-receptor status and disease progression in breast cancer

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Immunohistochemical analysis of aldehyde dehydrogenase isoforms and their association with estrogen-receptor status and disease progression in breast cancer

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