For convenience, we named the paired subsets as follows: Cancer Luminal (CL) EpCAM+/CD49f−/CD24+ cells purified from tumour-directed biopsies; Cancer Basal (CB) EpCAM+/CD49f+/CD24− cells purified from tumour-directed biopsies; Normal Luminal (NL) EpCAM+/CD49f−/CD24+ cells from contralateral biopsies; Normal Basal (NB) EpCAM+/CD49f+/CD24− cells purified from contralateral biopsies. The gene discussed is ITGA6; the disease is cancer.