Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Sep 26, 2019; 11(9): 594-603
Published online Sep 26, 2019. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v11.i9.594
Breast cancer stem cells: The role of sex steroid receptors
Pia Giovannelli, Marzia Di Donato, Giovanni Galasso, Erika Di Zazzo, Nicola Medici, Antonio Bilancio, Antimo Migliaccio, Gabriella Castoria
Pia Giovannelli, Marzia Di Donato, Giovanni Galasso, Erika Di Zazzo, Nicola Medici, Antonio Bilancio, Antimo Migliaccio, Gabriella Castoria, Department of Precision Medicine, University of Campania “L. Vanvitelli”, Naples 80138, Italy
Author contributions: Giovannelli P wrote and drafted the original article; Giovannelli P, Castoria G, Di Donato M, Galasso G, Di Zazzo E, Medici N and Bilancio A wrote, reviewed and edited the article; Castoria G and Migliaccio A supervised the project; Castoria G and Migliaccio A acquired the funding.
Supported by the National Ministry of University and Research, Programmi di Ricerca Scientifica di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale, No. 2017EKMFTN_002, No. 2015B7M39T_003; Umberto Veronesi Foundation Post-doctoral Fellowship 2019; Program VALERE (Vanvitelli per la Ricerca- University of Campania "L. Vanvitelli").
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare they have no potential conflicts of interest.
Corresponding author: Pia Giovannelli, PhD, Department of Precision Medicine, University of Campania “L. Vanvitelli”, Via L. De Crecchio, 7, Naples 80138, Italy. pia.giovannelli@unicampania.it
Telephone: +39-81-5667555 Fax: +39-81-5667555
Received: February 28, 2019
Peer-review started: March 4, 2019
First decision: April 11, 2019
Revised: May 6, 2019
Accepted: August 20, 2019
Article in press: August 20, 2019
Published online: September 26, 2019
Core Tip

Core tip: Many studies have reported the presence of cancer stem cells (CSCs) in breast cancer (BC), highlighting the correlation between CSCs and BC aggressiveness. Sex steroids and steroid receptors play a pivotal role in BCSCs. By controlling different pathways, BCSCs are able to influence both BC recurrence and drug resistance. Therefore, better knowledge of BCSC features and behavior would be useful to employ these cells as BC prognostic factors, and develop new promising therapies targeting these cells and improving BC recurrence.