As reported previously [13], common changes in untreated MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cancer cell lines grown in PDS cells were decreased expression of proliferation genes (MKI67, CCNA2 and CCNB2), and a profound increase in pluripotency markers (NANOG, POU5F1, SOX2 and NEAT1) as well as CSC markers (CD44, LGALS3 and MALAT1) compared to 2D cultures (Figs. 5A and  2B). Here, SOX2 is linked to cancer.