CD44 and breast cancer: Interestingly, IL-6 inhibition in TCF64-ORF-SFCM upregulated the level of the epithelial markers E-cadherin and EpCAM, while it reduced the expression level of the mesenchymal marker N-cadherin and the stemness markers CD44 and ALDH1 as well as cyclin D1 in both MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 BC cells (Fig. 4C).