Three additional papers have reported on the immunohistochemical identification of CD44+/CD24− cells in breast cancer surgical samples; however, one group suggested that the prevalence of CD44+/CD24−/low tumour cells may favour distant metastasis [6], while other groups found that the same prevalence was associated with a tendency towards an increase in relapse-free survival of the patient [15],[16]. The gene discussed is CD44; the disease is breast cancer.