Figure 4. CSC-associated marker expression in vitro and its relationship to chemosensitivity.

(A) Flow cytometry was performed to identify quadruple staining for CD44-APC, EpCAM-VioBlue, CD24-PE and ALDH-FITC in fourteen primary cell-derived xenografts (n = 3). (B) Each cell line was treated with increasing concentrations (from 0 to 1000 μM) of Gemcitabine, Docetaxel (TXT), 5-Fluouracil (5FU), Oxaliplatin and the active metabolite of Irinotecan known as SN-38. The rate of cell survival was measured after 72 h of treatment. A sensitivity profile was obtained for each drug and the IC₅₀ data is presented in the table. (C) Linear regression analysis to assess the level of expression of each CSC-associated marker and IC₅₀ corresponding to each drug, was performed. N=3 per group.