摘要：Metastasis is the major factor responsible for the lethality of malignant breast cancer in human patients. Although various targeted and non-targeted therapies can occasionally control the progress of breast cancer, a significant portion of patients develop resistance to chemotherapy and experience metastatic recurrence. The epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), a key developmental program in embryogenesis, has been found to be closely intertwined with the occurrence of metastasis in various human cancers. EMT can be prompted by the expression of multiple transcriptional factors and is controlled by several signaling pathways including TGF-¦Â, Wnt and Notch signaling. Moreover, a link between EMT and the onset of epithelial stem cell-like properties has been suggested. However, the mechanism underlining this relationship remains unrevealed, and whether cancer stemness is a consequence of EMT or they are two parallel phenomena refecting cell plasticity remains unknown. Towards the goal of understanding breast cancer metastasis, our group performed a cross-species expression profiling and identified Foxq1 as an EMT- and metastasis-promoting gene in breast cancer [1].
