CD44 and breast cancer: Subsequently, to gain a better understanding of the effect of S. bachtiarica on mammospheres, the 5-day MDAMB-231 mammospheres treated with S. bachtiarica for 48 h and the expression levels of surface markers associated with breast cancer stem cells, including CD44+/CD24− [28], the expression of stemness associated genes, including OCT4, c-MYC, KLF-4, and SOX-2, and the colonogenic capacity of mammospheres were assessed (Figure 6C–E).