CXCR2 is a novel cancer stem-like cell marker for triple-negative breast cancer

Background Breast cancer is the leading cause of mortality from cancer in women worldwide, and cancer stem-like cell (CSC) is responsible for failure treatment of breast cancer. It plays an important role in resistant disease and metastasis. CD44/CD24 and ALDH are well-accepted protein markers of breast CSC, and it was reported that distinct subtypes of breast CSC were identified by the 2 markers. It is possible that there are various kinds of breast CSC which could be identified by different markers, and CSC markers utilized at present are not enough to fully understand breast CSC. Finding out more novel CSC markers is necessary. CXCR2 is involved in breast cancer metastasis, treatment resistance, and recurrence and has positive cross-talk with known breast CSC protein markers. It can be concluded that CXCR2 is related to breast CSC, and further study is in need.