biostudies-literatureLi CNatural Science Foundation of Beijing MunicipalityMinistry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of ChinaNational Natural Science Foundation of China286https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC7969628biostudies-literatureUnknown12(4)p97/VCP, an evolutionarily concerned ATPase, partakes in multiple cellular proteostatic processes, including the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-associated protein degradation (ERAD). Elevated expression of p97 is common in many cancers and is often associated with poor survival. Here we report that the levels of p97 positively correlated with the histological grade, tumor size, and lymph node metastasis in breast cancers. We further examined p97 expression in the stem-like cancer cells or cancer stem cells (CSCs), a cell population that purportedly underscores cancer initiation, therapeutic resistance, and recurrence. We found that p97 was consistently at a higher level in the CD44⁺/CD24^-, ALDH⁺, or PKH26⁺ CSC populations than the respective non-CSC Cell death & diseasep97/VCP is highly expressed in the stem-like cells of breast cancer and controls cancer stemness partly through the unfolded protein response.PMC796962816G10825815500192016YFC1302203Zhou LZheng ZXie FLi CHuang YDong YJi JNie MFan QWang JQuan HWang Lfalsep97/VCP is highly expressed in the stem-like cells of breast cancer and controls cancer stemness partly through the unfolded protein response.p97/VCP, an evolutionarily concerned ATPase, partakes in multiple cellular proteostatic processes, including the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-associated protein degradation (ERAD). Elevated expression of p97 is common in many cancers and is often associated with poor survival. Here we report that the levels of p97 positively correlated with the histological grade, tumor size, and lymph node metastasis in breast cancers. We further examined p97 expression in the stem-like cancer cells or cancer stem cells (CSCs), a cell population that purportedly underscores cancer initiation, therapeutic resistance, and recurrence. We found that p97 was consistently at a higher level in the CD44⁺/CD24^-, ALDH⁺, or PKH26⁺ CSC populations than the respective non-CSC 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z2021 Mar2025-04-19T15:37:48.886Z2022-02-09T10:50:23.858ZS-EPMC79696283373166810.1038/s41419-021-03555-5