Signaling pathway switch in breast cancer

Abstract

Next generation sequencing studies have drawn the general landscape of breast cancers and identified hundreds of new, actual therapeutic targets. Two major signaling pathways seem to be altered in a vast proportion of breast cancers. The PI3 kinase/AKT pathway is activated and the JUN/MAPK pathway is repressed. Via the regulation of the cell cycle this metabolic switch impacts on the balance between self-renewal, proliferation and differentiation of the tumor-initiating cells. © 2013 Guille et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.