Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34493772›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2021

Expression of LGR5 in mammary myoepithelial cells and in triple-negative breast cancers.

Hyun Ju Lee, Jae Kyung Myung, Hye Sung Kim, Dong Hui Lee, Hyun Su Go, Jae Hyuck Choi, Hyun Min Koh, Su-Jae Lee, Bogun Jang

Open access · goldAbstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 23% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. PI3 K/AKT/mTOR pathway and its role in breast cancer stem cells.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2025
    Review
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  5. Article
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  8. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.

Hyun Ju Lee *Department of Pathology, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine and Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital, Cheonan, Korea.
Jae Kyung Myung *Department of Pathology, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Hye Sung KimDepartment of Pathology, Jeju National University School of Medicine, Jeju, South Korea.
Dong Hui LeeDepartment of Pathology, Jeju National University School of Medicine and Jeju National University Hospital, Aran 13 gil 15, Jeju city, Jeju, 63241, Korea.
Hyun Su GoDepartment of Pathology, Jeju National University School of Medicine, Jeju, South Korea.
Jae Hyuck ChoiDepartment of Surgery, Jeju National University School of Medicine and Jeju National University Hospital, Jeju, South Korea.
Hyun Min KohDepartment of Pathology, Gyeongsang National University Changwon Hospital, Changwon, South Korea.
Su-Jae LeeDepartment of Life Science, Research Institute for Natural Sciences, Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea.
Bogun JangDepartment of Pathology, Jeju National University School of Medicine and Jeju National University Hospital, Aran 13 gil 15, Jeju city, Jeju, 63241, Korea. bgjang9633@gmail.com.
Jeju National University · KRHanyang University · KRJeju National University Hospital · KRGyeongsang National University · KRSoonchunhyang University · KR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Lineage tracing in mice indicates that LGR5 is an adult stem cell marker in multiple organs, such as the intestine, stomach, hair follicles, ovary, and mammary glands. Despite many studies exploring the presence of LGR5 cells in human tissues, little is known about its expression profile in either human mammary tissue or pathological lesions. In this study we aim to investigate LGR5 expression in normal, benign, and malignant lesions of the human breast using RNA in situ hybridization. LGR5 expression has not been observed in normal lactiferous ducts and terminal duct lobular units, whereas LGR5-positive cells have been specifically observed in the basal myoepithelium of ducts in the regenerative tissues, ductal carcinoma in situ, and in ducts surrounded by invasive cancer cells. These findings suggest LGR5 marks facultative stem cells that are involved in post injury regeneration instead of homeostatic stem cells. LGR5 positivity was found in 3% (9 of 278 cases) of invasive breast cancers (BC), and it showed positive associations with higher histologic grades (P = 0.001) and T stages (P < 0.001), while having negative correlations with estrogen receptor (P < 0.001) and progesterone receptor (P < 0.001) expression. Remarkably, all LGR5-positive BC, except one, belong to triple-negative BC (TNBC), representing 24% (9 of 38 cases) of all of them. LGR5 histoscores have no correlations with EGFR, CK5/6, Ki-67, or P53 expression. Additionally, no β-catenin nuclear localization was observed in LGR5-positive BC, indicating that canonical Wnt pathway activation is less likely involved in LGR5 expression in BC. Our results demonstrate that LGR5 expression is induced in regenerative conditions in the myoepithelium of human mammary ducts and that its expression is only observed in TNBC subtype among all invasive BC. Further studies regarding the functional and prognostic impact of LGR5 in TNBC are warranted.

Indexed as

AdultAgedBreastBreast DiseasesCarcinomaCarcinoma, Ductal, BreastCarcinoma, Intraductal, NoninfiltratingEpithelial CellsFemaleFibroadenomaHumansIn Situ HybridizationMiddle AgedNeoplasm ProteinsPapilloma, IntraductalPhyllodes TumorLGR5 protein, humanNeoplasm ProteinsReceptors, G-Protein-CoupledRNA, MessengerRNA, Neoplasm

Identifiers

PMID34493772
PMCPMC8423726
OpenAlexW3197593432

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.