How breast cancer usurps powers of mammary stem cells
Monday, August 11, 2014 - 16:31
in Health & Medicine
During pregnancy, certain hormones trigger specialized mammary stem cells to create milk-producing cells essential to lactation. Scientists have found that mammary stem cells associated with the pregnant mammary gland are related to stem cells found in breast cancer. "By understanding a fundamental mechanism of mammary gland development during pregnancy, we have gained a rare insight into how aggressive breast cancer might be treated," said the lead author.