ArticleBreast cancer research : BCR2015
The sialyl-glycolipid stage-specific embryonic antigen 4 marks a subpopulation of chemotherapy-resistant breast cancer cells with mesenchymal features.
Article in Breast cancer research : BCR, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 82 citations in OpenAlex.
- Tissue-specific factors that govern the sialoglycan-Siglec axis in cancer.Bioscience reports · 2026Review
- Integrated in vivo functional screens and multiomics analyses identify α-2,3-sialylation as essential for melanoma maintenance.Science advances · 2025Article
- Recurring cycles of deprivation of serum and migration in confined spaces augments ganglioside SSEA-4 expression, boosting clonogenicity and cisplatin resistance in TNBC cell line.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Expression of Human β3GalT5-1 in Insect Cells as Active Glycoforms for the Efficient Synthesis of Cancer-Associated Globo-Series Glycans.Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2025Article
- Comprehensive analysis of α2,3-sialyltransferases as prognostic biomarkers and immunotherapy targets in kidney renal clear cell carcinoma.Cancer cell international · 2025Article
- Pre-existing cell subpopulations in primary prostate cancer tumors display surface fingerprints of docetaxel-resistant cells.Cellular oncology (Dordrecht, Netherlands) · 2025Article
- MUC1 expression is associated with ST3GAL2 and negatively correlated with the androgen receptor in castration-resistant prostate cancer.Glycoconjugate journal · 2024Article
- Ganglioside SSEA-4 in Ewing sarcoma marks a tumor cell population with aggressive features and is a potential cell-surface immune target.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Increased expression of SSEA-4 on TKI-resistant non-small cell lung cancer with EGFR-T790M mutation.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Targeting Stage-Specific Embryonic Antigen 4 (SSEA-4) in Triple Negative Breast Cancer by CAR T Cells Results in Unexpected on Target/off Tumor Toxicities in Mice.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Mechanism of Antigen Presentation and Specificity of Antibody Cross-Reactivity Elicited by an Oligosaccharide-Conjugate Cancer Vaccine.Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2023Article
- Intact glycopeptides identified by LC-MS/MS as biomarkers for response to chemotherapy of locally advanced cervical cancer.Frontiers in oncology · 2023Article
- Sialyltransferases and Neuraminidases: Potential Targets for Cancer Treatment.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Whole-cell tumor vaccines desialylated to uncover tumor antigenic Gal/GalNAc epitopes elicit anti-tumor immunity.Journal of translational medicine · 2022Article
- Overlapping and unique substrate specificities of ST3GAL1 and 2 during hematopoietic and megakaryocytic differentiation.Blood advances · 2022Article
- Review
- One-pot multienzyme (OPME) chemoenzymatic synthesis of brain ganglioside glycans with human ST3GAL II expressed inChemCatChem · 2022Article
- Abnormal sialylation and fucosylation of saliva glycoproteins: Characteristics of lung cancer-specific biomarkers.Current research in pharmacology and drug discovery · 2022Review
- Comprehensive landscape of the ST3GAL family reveals the significance of ST3GAL6-AS1/ST3GAL6 axis on EGFR signaling in lung adenocarcinoma cell invasion.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2022Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
25 authors at 8 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionChemotherapy resistance resulting in incomplete pathologic response is associated with high risk of metastasis and early relapse in breast cancer. The aim of this study was to identify and evaluate biomarkers of treatment-resistant tumor cells.
methodsWe performed a cell surface marker screen in triple-negative breast cancer patient-derived xenograft models treated with standard care genotoxic chemotherapy. Global expression profiling was used to further characterize the identified treatment-resistant subpopulations.
resultsHigh expression of sialyl-glycolipid stage-specific embryonic antigen 4 (SSEA4) was found in residual tumor cells surviving chemotherapy and in samples from metastatic patients who relapsed after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Gene and microRNA (miRNA) expression profiling linked SSEA4 positivity with a mesenchymal phenotype and a deregulation of drug resistance pathways. Functional assays demonstrated a direct link between epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and SSEA4 expression. Interestingly, SSEA4 expression, EMT, and drug resistance seemed to be regulated posttranscriptionally. Finally, high expression of CMP-N-acetylneuraminate-β-galactosamide-α-2,3-sialyltransferase 2 (ST3GAL2), the rate-limiting enzyme of SSEA4 synthesis, was found to be associated with poor clinical outcome in breast and ovarian cancer patients treated with chemotherapy.
conclusionsIn this study, we identified SSEA4 as highly expressed in a subpopulation of tumor cells resistant to multiple commonly used chemotherapy drugs, as well as ST3GAL2, the rate-limiting enzyme of SSEA4 synthesis, as a predictive marker of poor outcome for breast and ovarian cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Both biomarkers and additionally identified regulatory miRNAs may be used to further understand chemoresistance, to stratify patient groups in order to avoid ineffective and painful therapies, and to develop alternative treatment regimens for breast cancer patients.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.