{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,20]],"date-time":"2026-07-20T16:01:09Z","timestamp":1784563269830,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"22","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,12]],"date-time":"2025-11-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1762905600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Ministry of Science, Technological Development, and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia","award":["451-03-136\/2025-03\/200015"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["451-03-136\/2025-03\/200015"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is an aggressive epithelial malignancy with high local invasiveness and a tendency for early cervical lymph node metastasis. Conventional prognostic markers often lack precision. This study evaluated the expression of putative cancer stem cell markers\u2014CD44, CD133, and CD166\u2014in OSCC tissues and explored their associations with clinical parameters, including salivary flow rates. Twelve patients with histologically confirmed OSCC (9 males, 3 females; mean age: 65 years) were included. Clinical TNM staging and tumor dimensions were recorded. Depth of invasion was measured histologically. Tumor tissues were enzymatically dissociated to establish primary cell cultures, and flow cytometry was used to quantify putative cancer stem cell markers expression. Unstimulated salivary flow rates were measured using sialometry. CD44 expression was uniformly high (median: 96.4%) and CD166 showed moderate to high expression (median: 85.5%), while CD133 was low (median: 1.5%). Co-expression levels were the highest for CD44+\/CD166+ (median: 86.6%). Triple-marker co-expression had a median of 2.0%. Depth of invasion was positively correlated with CD133+ and its co-expression with CD44+ and CD166+ (p \u2264 0.05). Salivary flow rates were negatively correlated with CD166+ and CD44+\/CD166+ expression (p \u2264 0.01). These findings suggest putative cancer stem cell markers, particularly CD133, may have prognostic value in OSCC and warrant further investigation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms262210939","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,12]],"date-time":"2025-11-12T08:58:47Z","timestamp":1762937927000},"page":"10939","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Expression of Putative Cancer Stem Cell Markers in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Correlation with Clinicopathological Features"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"26","author":[{"given":"An\u0111elija","family":"Petrovi\u0107","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Group for Nutritional Biochemistry and Dietology, Institute for Medical Research, National Institute of Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4399-6720","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Slavko","family":"Mojsilovi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Group for Hematology and Stem Cells, Institute for Medical Research, National Institute of Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Diana","family":"Bugarski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Group for Hematology and Stem Cells, Institute for Medical Research, National Institute of Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aleksandra","family":"Jaukovi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Group for Hematology and Stem Cells, Institute for Medical Research, National Institute of Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2209-5253","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Biljana","family":"Pokimica","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Group for Nutritional Biochemistry and Dietology, Institute for Medical Research, National Institute of Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"},{"name":"Center of Research Excellence in Nutrition and Metabolism, Institute for Medical Research, National Institute of Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Dr Subotica 4, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Miroslav P.","family":"Ili\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia"},{"name":"Clinic for Maxillofacial Surgery, University Clinical Center of Vojvodina, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1849","DOI":"10.1158\/1055-9965.EPI-22-0114","article-title":"Oral Cancer Prevalence, Mortality, and Costs in Medicaid and Commercial Insurance Claims Data","volume":"31","author":"Tranby","year":"2022","journal-title":"Cancer Epidemiol. 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