Table 1.
Human breast cancer xenograft assay of the ESA+CD44+CD24-/low population
| Tumors-developed mice/cell-injected mice | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Injected cell number | 1 × 106 | 5 × 105 | 1 × 105 | 5 × 104 | 1 × 104 | 5 × 103 | 1 × 103 | 5 × 102 |
| MCF-7 cell line | ||||||||
| Unsorted MCF-7 | 3/3 | 1/3 | 0/3 | 0/3 | 0/3 | - | - | - |
| ESA+CD44+CD24-/low BCSCs | - | - | - | 3/3 | 3/3 | 1/3 | 0/3 | 0/3 |
| Xenograft tumor cells | ||||||||
| Unsorted breast cancer cells | 3/3 | 1/3 | 0/3 | 0/3 | - | - | - | - |
| ESA+CD44+CD24-/low BCSCs | - | - | - | 3/3 | 3/3 | 1/3 | 0/3 | 0/3 |
MCF-7 cells gave rise to new tumors when at least 5 × 105 cells were injected per animal but failed to do so at lower doses (105 cells). By contrast, ESA+CD44+CD24-/low cells formed tumors when 5 × 103 cells were injected per animal. Tumor specimens were retrieved and subsequently passaged into recipient mice, and the same results were observed.