The significance of BST-2 cysteine-linked dimerization in breast cancer was not appreciated until we showed that the extracellular domain cysteine residues, charged with orchestrating BST-2 dimerization promotes BST-2-directed cell to cell and cell to extracellular matrix (ECM) interaction, anoikis resistance, cell survival, and tumor growth6. The gene discussed is BST2; the disease is breast carcinoma.