Ovarian and Breast Cancer Spheres Are Similar in Transcriptomic Features and Sensitive to Fenretinide

The identification and characterization of subpopulations of cancer stem cells (CSCs) provide new understandings and possible therapeutic implications in cancer biology. We found the ovarian cancer sphere cells possessed CSCs properties maintained self renewal, drug resistance, and tumorigenesis. Using high-throughput microarray system, we identified common GO terms and pathway signatures significantly enriched in ovarian and breast cancer stem cells. Ovarian and breast cancer cells were cultured in sphere formation conditions, and total RNA from those spheres and conresponding adhered cell was hybridized on Affymetrix microarrays.