MTOR and breast cancer: To assess whether similar mechanisms of action occurred also in BC upon Bio-nFeR treatment, we performed immunoblot analysis of mammary tumors ex vivo for key factors involved in cellular proliferation and biosynthesis such as pERK, p38, p16, Cyclin D1, mTOR, 4EBP1, and S6RP (Fig. 7 and Additional file: Fig. S4B-D).