Expression of SOX11 and HER2 and their association with recurrent breast cancer

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide (1). Despite significant improvements in both early diagnosis and therapeutic interventions, clinical outcomes remain poor (2) due to significant heterogeneity in clinical, histological, and biological presentation (3,4). According to recent reports, 20% of patients who initially respond to therapeutic intervention will develop recurrent breast cancer within 10 years (5). Cancer cells that detach from primary breast cancer tissues can act as seed cells, resulting in metastatic cancer (6,7). These circulating tumor cells possess a variety of phenotypes similar to those of stem cells (8)