アルデヒド脱水素酵素を利用した子宮内膜癌における腫瘍幹細胞の検討

抄録

Tumors are known to be composed of heterogeneous cell populations derived from a single clone. Cells with tumorigenic potential are limited to a small population, called cancer-initiating cells (CICs). CICs efficiently efflux anti-tumor chemicals, and show high aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity. To date, no studies on CICs have been done in endometrial adenocarcinoma of uterus. Here, we examined the ALDH activity in uterine endometrioid adenocarcinoma. In uterine endometrioid adenocarcinoma cell line, a small number of cells showed high ALDH activity, which was more resistant against anti-cancer drugs, invasive, and tumorigenic as compared to cells with low ALDH activity. Immunohistochemistry revealed that ALDH staining was limited to a small portion of tumor cells in most cases. Clinically, high-level of ALDH1 expression in tumor cells was correlated with T category, lymphatic invasion, recurrence, and prognosis of patients. Patients with high ALDH1 expression showed poorer prognosis than those with low expression. ALDH1 appeared to be a candidate for CIC marker for uterine endometrioid adenocarcinoma.