APRIL promotes breast tumor growth and metastasis and is associated with aggressive basal breast cancer.

APRIL (a proliferation-inducing ligand) is a cytokine of the tumor necrosis factor family associated mainly with hematologic malignancies. APRIL is also overexpressed in breast carcinoma tissue lesions, although neither its role in breast tumorigenesis nor the underlying molecular mechanism is known. Here, we show that several breast cancer cell lines express APRIL and both its receptors, B cell maturation antigen (BCMA) and transmembrane activator and CAML-interactor (TACI), independently of luminal or basal tumor cell phenotype, and that the mitogen-activated protein kinases p38, ERK1/2, and JNK1/2 are activated in response to APRIL.