Fig 2: Representative staining of HE (A), CD24 (brown) and CD44 (red) (B), ALDH1A1 (C), and CD133 (D). HE, hematoxylin-eosin; ALDH1A1, aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 family member A1.

Fig 3: Heatmap showing distribution of progression, clinicopathologic features, BCSC markers, and ITSH in the patients. In the first row, the green cells represented the patients were free of local recurrence and distant metastasis during the follow-up, and the red cells represented that progression occurred during the follow-up, while the dotted cells represented the patients lost to follow-up. In the other rows, the dark gray cells represented that age = 50 years old, tumor size > 2cm, positive lymph node, histological grade 3, TNM stage III, Ki-67 = 30%, without receiving adjuvant chemotherapy, positivity of CD44+/CD24-, ALDH1A1 and CD133 expression, and with ITSH for CD44+/CD24-, ALDH1A1 and CD133 expression. The dotted cells represented the evaluable ITSH status. BCSC, breast cancer stem cell; ALDH1A1, aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 family member A1; ITSH, intratumor stemness heterogeneity.

Fig 4: Kaplan-Meier survival analysis of the combined BCSC phenotypes with PFS. The BCSC phenotypes were determined by combing the expression of CD44+/CD24- and ALDH1A1 (A), CD44+/CD24- and CD133 (B), ALDH1A1 and CD133 (C), and CD44+/CD24-, ALDH1A1 and CD133 (D). BCSC, breast cancer stem cell; PFS, progression-free survival; ALDH1A1, aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 family member A1.