According to the most recent epidemiological studies, breast cancer shows the highest incidence and the second leading cause of death in women. Cancer progression and metastasis are the main events related to poor survival of breast cancer patients. This can be explained by the presence of highly resistant to chemo- and radiotherapy stem cells in many breast tumor tissues. In this context, numerous studies highlighted the possible involvement of epithelial to mesenchymal transition phenomenon as biological program to generate cancer stem cells, and thus participate to both metastatic and drug resistance process. Therefore, the comprehension of mechanisms (both cellular and molecular) involved in breast cancer occurrence and progression can lay the foundation for the development of new diagnostic and therapeutical protocols. In this review, we reported the most important findings in the field of breast cancer highlighting the most recent data concerning breast tumor biology, diagnosis and therapy.

根据最新的流行病学研究，乳腺癌在女性中显示出最高的发病率和第二大死亡原因。癌症的进展和转移是与乳腺癌患者生存不良有关的主要事件。这可以通过在许多乳腺肿瘤组织中对化学和放射治疗干细胞具有高度抗性来解释。在这种情况下，大量研究强调了上皮向间质转化现象可能参与了生物学程序以产生癌症干细胞，从而参与了转移和耐药过程。因此，对参与乳腺癌发生和发展的机制（细胞和分子）的理解可以为开发新的诊断和治疗方案奠定基础。在这篇评论中，