To investigate whether ITGA5 could drive tumor cell anchorage in bone marrow in vivo, MDA-MB-231 cells that have the propensity to form lung and bone metastases were injected into the tail artery of immunodeficient mice and, 2 weeks after tumor cell inoculation, these animals were culled and the number of micrometastases in bone marrow and lungs quantified. Here, ITGA5 is linked to neoplasm.