Here we show that breast cancer sphere cells (BCSCs), known to be enriched in cells with cancer initiating/stem-like features [16], are characterized by the expression of ΔNp63, which is crucial for the induction of an EMT programme, thus increasing the ability of breast cancer cells to migrate and form distant metastasis, through the activation of PI3K/AKT pathway and CD44v6 expression. Here, AKT1 is linked to breast carcinoma.