ALDH1A3 and cancer: RT-qPCR was used to quantify the expression of TROP2 mRNA as well as that of putative markers for basal/cancer stem cells (CD49f, POU5F1 (Oct4), DCLK1, ALDH1A3) or luminal stem cells (NKX3.1) [17] in residual tumors (Figure 2C).