The loss of cell polarity and cancer are two processes are related, although there is no direct evidence to explain this correlation. In stem cells, loss of cell polarity and consequently, the alteration of the division process could produce cells unable to respond to the mechanisms controlling the proliferation and lead to cancer cells. Research by Emmanuel Caussinus and Cayetano Gonzalez has raised two related questions: if the stem cells can become cancerous cells and if this process may be related to loss of polarity.

To answer these questions have been developed in Drosophila melanogaster larval neuroblasts with mutations in genes that control asymmetric cell division (raps, look, numb or pros) and have observed their proliferative capacity