Table 1.
Reported major liver cancer stem cell markers
| Marker | Origin | Minimum tumorigenic cells | Clinical relevant characteristics | Related literature |
| CD133 | HuH7 cell,SMMC-7721 cell | 1 × 102-1 × 103 | With a poor prognosis;Related with invasiveness and distant metastases;Resistance to chemotherapy drugs | [14,15,17,48,59] |
| CD90 | PLC cell,MHCC-97L,HCC tumor,blood samples of 90% patients with liver cancer | 5 × 102 | Related with tumorigenic ability and metastasis of liver cancer | [23,24] |
| EpCAM | HuH1 cell,HuH7 cell | 1 × 103 | The origin of recurrence and metastasis postoperatively;Patients with vascular metastasis and low overall survival rate when peripheral circulation exists | [31] |
| OV6 | SMMC-7721 cell | 5 × 103 | Drugs resistance;Strong metastasis and invasion | [39] |
| CD441 | MHCC-LM3 cell,MHCC-97L cell | 1 × 102 | Chemotherapy drug resistance;Related with portal vein metastasis in liver cancer | [41] |
| SP (ABCG2) | Huh7 cell,PLC/PRF/5 cell | 1 × 103 | - | [46,60] |
1
Co-expression of CD133+ and CD44+ cell surface markers. SP: Side population; EpCAM: Epithelial cell adhesion molecule.