. 2019 Oct 1;2(3):152–165. doi: 10.1093/pcmedi/pbz016

Table 1 .

CSC markers for HNSCC CSCs isolation.

Genes	Assay	Functions
CD24	Flow cytometry	CD24⁺ cells promote tumor initiation, growth and angiogenesis in HNSCC⁴³^,⁴⁴
CD29	Flow cytometry	CD29⁺ cells are related to tumor invasion ability, migration, and lymph node metastasis of HNSCC³⁴^,^173–175
CD44	Flow cytometry	CD44⁺ cells display the characteristics of CSCs in HNSCC⁷³^,⁷⁴^,⁷⁶^,^176–178
CD98	Flow cytometry	CD98⁺ cells are capable of generating tumors in nude mice and express high levels of cell cycle and DNA repair genes¹⁷⁹
CD133	Flow cytometry	CD133⁺ cells demonstrate CSC properties in HNSCC^36–38
ALDH	ALDEFLUOR assay	ALDH^high population display EMT characteristics, enhanced colony forming and metastasis abilities⁵⁷^,⁵⁹^,⁶¹
c-Met	Flow cytometry	c-Met⁺ cells demonstrate chemoresistance, metastasis and CSC properties in HNSCC⁴⁹^,⁵⁰^,¹⁸⁰
Side population	DNA dye exclusion assay	SP cells exist in HNSCC cell lines show higher metastatic potential⁷¹
Sphere	Sphere-formation assay	Spherical cells are able to survive detachment from their native microenvironment and to form cellular aggregates in an anchorage-independent manner⁷³