MYC Is a Crucial Mediator of TGFβ-Induced Invasion in Basal Breast Cancer.

Basal subtype breast cancers have a particularly poor prognosis, with high invasiveness and resistance to most targeted therapies. TGFβ and MYC drive central features of basal breast cancer: TGFβ is an autocrine and paracrine signaling factor that drives cell invasion and metastasis, and MYC is a central regulator of cellular proliferation that is upregulated in many cancer types. We show here that genetic or pharmacologic inhibition of MYC in MCF10A basal breast cells results in increased sensitivity to TGFβ-stimulated invasion and metastasis and also show that this signaling loop is dependent on activation of SRC.