Differential Expression of Blood Group Precursor Antigen in Human Breast Cancer Tissue

There is a pressing need for biomarkers for targeted immunotherapy against breast cancer (BCA), the leading cause of cancer death in women. Previously, a blood group precursor O-core epitope gp(Cl) was found to be highly expressed in breast circulating tumor cells (BCTCs) and BCA cell lines with cancer stem cell (BCSC) features. In this pilot study, the breast tissue distribution of gp(C1) was examined using tissue microarrays (TMAs). Notably, gp(C1) positive cells were detected in the major histological types of neoplastic breast tissues. Conversely, none of the breast tissues derived from subjects without BCA were gp(C1) positive. Thus, gp(C1) expression seems to be tumor-specific but not histological type-dependent, reflecting perhaps its characteristics as a conserved epitope of oncofetal blood group precursor antigens.