The antibody panel was designed to identify tumor cell subpopulations that are known to contribute to breast cancer progression (e.g. CD24, CD44 as markers of CSCs), surface molecules that associate with EMT/MET plasticity (e.g. EpCAM and Vimentin) and a set of novel surface antigens reflecting breast cancer cell plasticity (e.g. CD29, CD97, CD49c, ITGB5), published previously [30]. Here, CD44 is linked to breast carcinoma.