Breast cancer cells ‘stick together’ to spread through the body during metastasis

Researchers have discovered that a cell adhesion protein, E-cadherin, allows breast cancer cells to survive as they travel through the body and form new tumors, a process termed metastasis. Their conclusions, obtained through laboratory experiments and in mouse models, help explain how metastasis works in the most common form of breast cancer, invasive ductal carcinoma. E-cadherin appears to limit molecular stresses within the cancer cells and allow them to survive long enough to form new tumors.