Background

There are around 55,900 new breast cancer cases in the UK every year and it is the fourth most common cause of cancer death in the UK, accounting for 7% of all cancer deaths. The majority of breast cancer deaths are due to metastatic disease. Breast cancer metastasis is a multi-step process influenced by many factors, including the tumour microenvironment (TME). Key interactions between the TME and tumour cells have been identified as promoting metastasis, thus presenting novel clinical targets.

One such target is endosialin, a transmembrane glycoprotein expressed in both developing and adult tissues that are undergoing active physiological or pathological angiogenesis. Endosialin has limited expression in healthy tissues but is strongly upregulated on tumour-associated pericytes and fibroblasts