Signaling pathways point to vulnerability in breast cancer stem cells
Thursday, June 9, 2011 - 12:30
in Health & Medicine
Whitehead Institute researchers have identified signals from breast epithelial cells that can induce those cells to transition to and maintain a mesenchymal and stem cell-like cell state that imbues both normal and cancer cells with a greater ability to migrate and self-renew. Interrupting these signals strips the cells of the migratory, invasive and self-renewal abilities used by cancer stem cells to seed new tumors.