Mammary Glands-in-a-Dish Will Help Define Breast Cancer Cell Biology

Breast cancer cells can adopt properties of stem cells (undifferentiated body cells that can become specialized cells) and acquire aggressive traits. However, the biological processes underlying this transformation are still not completely understood. By using healthy tissue derived from women undergoing aesthetic breast reduction, German scientists have recently developed a new in vitro mammary gland system that can grow and function like normal breast stem cells. This new tool will be useful for investigating the biology of both normal and tumorigenic breast cells, possibly contributing to the reduction and replacement of animal models for breast cancer research.