Our finding and those reported in the literature (Rubin et al, 2001; Kowalski et al, 2003) or carcinoma metastases presenting E-cadherin and differentiation-related cytokeratins, along with low to absent levels of vimentin and EGFR (total and active), cannot discern whether these metastases arose from a subset of primary tumour cells that never underwent a phenotypic shift or from the majority of aggressive cells that underwent the so-called epithelial–mesenchymal transition. The gene discussed is EGFR; the disease is carcinoma.