Silencing FOXP2 in breast cancer cells promotes cancer stem cell traits and metastasis

Abstract

In a recent article in Cell Stem Cell, we showed that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), progenitor cells that populate the breast tumor stroma, induce microRNA-mediated FOXP2 repression in breast cancer cells (BCCs), thus promoting cancer stem cell (CSC) and metastatic traits. Here, we discuss the implications of these findings for understanding metastatic CSC genesis.