Epithelial-mesenchymal transitions:: Twist in development and metastasis

Epithelial-mesenchymal transitions (EMT) are vital for morphogenesis during embryonic development and are also implicated in the conversion of early stage tumors into invasive malignancies. Several key inducers of EMT are transcription factors that repress E-cadherin expression. A recent report in Cell (Yang et al., 2004) adds Twist to this list and links EMT to the ability of breast cancer cells to enter the circulation and seed metastases.