©The Author(s) 2026. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Oncol. Feb 24, 2026; 17(2): 116251
Published online Feb 24, 2026. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v17.i2.116251
Published online Feb 24, 2026. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v17.i2.116251
Cancer stem cell markers, chemotherapy response, and survival in triple-negative breast cancer
Faisal Nabi Depar, Department of Medicine, People’s University of Medical and Health Sciences for Women, Nawabshah 67480, Sindh, Pakistan
Ahmed Jamal Chaudhary, Department of Medicine, Lahore Medical and Dental College, Lahore 54000, Punjab, Pakistan
Jawad Hameed, Anesthesia and Critical Care, Lady Reading Hospital MTI, Peshawar 44230, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Faisal Sarwar Abbasi, Department of Medicine, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Karachi 75300, Sindh, Pakistan
Bibi Uzma, Department of Genetic Engineering, IBGE Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Agriculture University Peshawar, Peshawar 25130, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Amjad Ali, Department of Clinical Oncology, Life Care Hospital and Research Center, Peshawar 25100, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Naheed Akhtar, Institute of Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine Hospital, Peshawar 25000, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Rizwan Khan, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, Fujian Province, China
Afsheen Siddiqi, Department of Pharmacology, Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad 22040, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Sohail Riaz, Department of Medicine, International University of Kyrgyzstan, International School of Medicine, Bishkek 720054, Kyrgyzstan
Author contributions: Depar FN, Chaudhary AJ, Hameed J, Abbasi FS, Uzma B, Ali A, Akhtar N, Siddiqi A, and Khan R collected and assembled the data; Riaz S designed the research study, analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; and all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Institute of Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine, approval No. IRNUM-IRB-2023-045.
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was waived due to the retrospective nature of the study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: Data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Corresponding author: Sohail Riaz, MD, Department of Medicine, International University of Kyrgyzstan, International School of Medicine, 6 Seven April Street, Bishkek 720054, Kyrgyzstan. sohailriaz552@gmail.com
Received: November 6, 2025
Revised: December 11, 2025
Accepted: January 14, 2026
Published online: February 24, 2026
Processing time: 92 Days and 14.8 Hours
Revised: December 11, 2025
Accepted: January 14, 2026
Published online: February 24, 2026
Processing time: 92 Days and 14.8 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: In a Pakistani triple-negative breast cancer cohort, the cancer stem cell phenotype (CD44 high/CD24 low/aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 positive) occurred in 10.2% of cases and independently predicted markedly lower pathological complete response (5.0% vs 51.8%) and shorter overall survival (hazard ratio = 4.35). These findings from a South Asian population with high triple-negative breast cancer burden support cancer stem cell marker integration into risk stratification for personalized therapy in resource-limited settings.