Use of gene expression and alternative splicing signatures to discriminate breast cancer stem cells from fibroblasts.

1057 Background: Tumors frequently contain cancer stem cells (CSCs) or tumor-initiating subpopulations, with an ability to self-renew and regenerate all cell types within the tumor. Basal-like breast cancers exhibit features of CSCs, including expression of surface markers, even though these cells are rare. Given the role of CSCs in the recurrence and spread of cancer, there is an urgent need to develop new therapeutic agents that target CSCs. Development of CSC-targeted drugs will be greatly facilitated by biomarkers that can identify CSCs to aid in patient selection and determination of drug response. Defining the CSCs in tumors is complicated by the high mesenchymal nature of fibroblasts. Analysis of gene expression and alternative splicing patterns in CSCs that are not observed in fibroblasts may provide valuable new CSC-specific markers. Methods: Alternative splicing and gene expression microarray strategies were used to identify selected exons and differentially expressed genes between 10 Basal huma...