“Rethinking EMT in Breast Cancer: Single-Cell Evidence for Epithelial Erosion and Mammary-Specific Plasticity”
 

The extent and biological relevance of epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) in breast cancer remain actively debated. Using mammary derived gene signatures applied to bulk and single-cell transcriptomic datasets, we map EMT states at high resolution and identify a continuum of epithelial plasticity across tumors. Notably, epithelial loss consistently exceeds canonical mesenchymal gain, suggesting that epithelial erosion represents a dominant route toward aggressive phenotypes, also in basal-like disease. These findings challenge traditional binary models of EMT and support a lineage-informed framework in which breast cancer progression is shaped by context-dependent transcriptional programs.