In this study, immunohistochemical staining was applied to detect the expression levels of α-SMA in paraffin-embedded breast cancer tissues and para-carcinoma tissues and in isolated CAFs/NFs, and we found that both CAFs and NFs expressed α-SMA, as observed in previous studies (Huang et al., 2010), despite some differences in staining patterns. The gene discussed is ACTA1; the disease is breast carcinoma.