MELK and breast neoplasm: When we analyzed MELK expression in the breast cancer data set of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) (Cancer Genome Atlas Network, 2012), a large cohort consisting of 392 invasive ductal breast carcinomas and 61 samples of normal breast tissues, the level of MELK transcript was approximately eightfold higher in breast tumors compared to their normal counterparts (Figure 2A).