The levels of PTEN (control: 0.344 vs hemin: 1.081 IRS; p < 0.05) and Smad2/3 (control: 0.531 vs hemin: 1.583 IRS; p < 0.05) were further corroborated by IHC performed on tumour tissues obtained from the BC animal model (Fig. 3D,E). This evidence concerns the gene PTEN and breast cancer.