Cancer Stem/Progenitor Cells Respond Poorly to Chemotherapeutic Agents

Introduction: Tumor initiating cells are defined by tumorigenecity, recurrence, metastasis, and drug resistance. These cells are thought to be capable of unlimited self-renewal, proliferation, and differentiation. We hypothesized that these cells can be identified by surface markers and have different responses to chemotherapeutic agents. Methods: Flow cytometry was used to define a panel of three cell surface markers consisting of CD44, CD24, and Epcam (3+) conserved across human fimbria, ascites from ovarian cancer patients, and human ovarian cancer cell lines (OVCAR-5, SKOV-3, IGROV-1).