Dillekas H, Rogers MS, Straume O (2019) Are 90% of deaths from cancer caused by metastases? Cancer Med 8(12):5574–5576. https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.2474

Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Yang J, Weinberg RA (2008) Epithelial-mesenchymal transition: at the crossroads of development and tumor metastasis. Dev Cell 14(6):818–829. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2008.05.009

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Nieto MA et al (2016) Emt: 2016. Cell 166(1):21–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2016.06.028

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Yang J et al (2020) Guidelines and definitions for research on epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 21(6):341–352. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41580-020-0237-9

Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Luond F et al (2021) Distinct contributions of partial and full EMT to breast cancer malignancy. Dev Cell 56(23):3203–3221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2021.11.006

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Kalluri R, Weinberg RA (2009) The basics of epithelial-mesenchymal transition. J Clin Invest 119(6):1420–1428. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI39104

Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Ribatti D, Tamma R, Annese T (2020) Epithelial-mesenchymal transition in cancer: a historical overview. Transl Oncol 13(6):100773. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranon.2020.100773

Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Meng F, Wu G (2012) The rejuvenated scenario of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and cancer metastasis. Cancer Metastasis Rev 31(3–4):455–467. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10555-012-9379-3

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

de Herreros AG et al (2010) Snail family regulation and epithelial mesenchymal transitions in breast cancer progression. J Mammary Gland Biol Neoplasia 15(2):135–147. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10911-010-9179-8

Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Dongre A, Weinberg RA (2019) New insights into the mechanisms of epithelial-mesenchymal transition and implications for cancer. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 20(2):69–84. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41580-018-0080-4

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Soini Y et al (2011) Transcription factors zeb1, twist and snai1 in breast carcinoma. BMC Cancer 11:73. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2407-11-73

Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Qiao W et al (2017) Prognostic and clinicopathological value of twist expression in breast cancer: a meta-analysis. PLoS ONE 12(10):e0186191. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0186191

Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Ang L et al (2017) Expression of and correlation between BCL6 and ZEB family members in patients with breast cancer. Exp Ther Med 14(5):3985–3992. https://doi.org/10.3892/etm.2017.5101

Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Cao YW et al (2015) Implications of the Notch1-Snail/Slug-epithelial to mesenchymal transition axis for lymph node metastasis in infiltrating ductal carcinoma. Kaohsiung J Med Sci 31(2):70–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.kjms.2014.11.008

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Imani S et al (2016) Prognostic value of EMT-inducing transcription factors (EMT-TFs) in metastatic breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sci Rep 6:28587. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep28587

Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Geradts J et al (2011) Nuclear Snail1 and nuclear ZEB1 protein expression in invasive and intraductal human breast carcinomas. Hum Pathol 42(8):1125–1131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.humpath.2010.11.004

Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Muenst S et al (2013) Nuclear expression of snail is an independent negative prognostic factor in human breast cancer. Dis Markers 35(5):337–344. https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/902042

Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Yang J et al (2004) Twist, a master regulator of morphogenesis, plays an essential role in tumor metastasis. Cell 117(7):927–939. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2004.06.006

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Xu Y et al (2017) Twist1 promotes breast cancer invasion and metastasis by silencing Foxa1 expression. Oncogene 36(8):1157–1166. https://doi.org/10.1038/onc.2016.286

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Loh CY et al (2019) The E-cadherin and N-cadherin switch in epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition: signaling, therapeutic implications, and challenges. Cells. https://doi.org/10.3390/cells8101118

Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Pastushenko I et al (2018) Identification of the tumour transition states occurring during EMT. Nature 556(7702):463–468. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0040-3

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Saitoh M (2018) Involvement of partial EMT in cancer progression. J Biochem 164(4):257–264. https://doi.org/10.1093/jb/mvy047

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Kelley MC, Hansen N, McMasters KM (2004) Lymphatic mapping and sentinel lymphadenectomy for breast cancer. Am J Surg 188(1):49–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjsurg.2003.10.028

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Marino MA et al (2020) Lymph node imaging in patients with primary breast cancer: concurrent diagnostic tools. Oncologist 25(2):e231–e242. https://doi.org/10.1634/theoncologist.2019-0427

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Pang MF et al (2016) TGF-beta1-induced EMT promotes targeted migration of breast cancer cells through the lymphatic system by the activation of CCR7/CCL21-mediated chemotaxis. Oncogene 35(6):748–760. https://doi.org/10.1038/onc.2015.133

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Cunningham HD et al (2010) Expression of the C-C chemokine receptor 7 mediates metastasis of breast cancer to the lymph nodes in mice. Transl Oncol 3(6):354–361. https://doi.org/10.1593/tlo.10178

Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Hayasaka H et al (2022) CXCL12 promotes CCR7 ligand-mediated breast cancer cell invasion and migration toward lymphatic vessels. Cancer Sci 113(4):1338–1351. https://doi.org/10.1111/cas.15293

Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Zhou L et al (2015) The roles of microRNAs in the regulation of tumor metastasis. Cell Biosci 5:32. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13578-015-0028-8

Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Peng Y, Croce CM (2016) The role of MicroRNAs in human cancer. Signal Transduct Target The