Abstract PO4-26-03: Collagen deposition in the breast cancer microenvironment correlates with ER-positive, Histological Grade I and low proliferation tumors
Authors: Koutras Angelos , Sirinian Chaido , Bogri Olga , Nifora Martha , Theakou Maria , Degn Soren , Mouratidis Ioannis , Chaniotis Dimitrios , Peroukidis Stavros , Georgakopoulos-Soares Ilias , Papanastasiou Anastasios 
Published: May 2024

Breast cancer is a highly heterogeneous neoplasm both at the molecular and histological levels. Breast cancer cells present extremely high levels of genetic heterogeneity concerning mutational burden, copy number variations (CNVs) and epigenetic signatures. While this level of heterogeneity is well established, other layers of heterogeneity, such as tumor microenvironment (TME) heterogeneity, remains to be elucidated. TME in breast cancer is an intricate network encompassing tumor cells, “normal” stroma cells such as fibroblasts, lymphocytes, and a plethora of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins produced either by cancer cells or stromal cells. These three interacting modules (cancer cells, stromal cells and the ECM) can affect each other in a reciprocal way with profound effects on patient prognosis and treatment outcome. Major protein components of the TME are ECM-related collagens, that are produced by breast cancer cells or/and cancer associated fibroblasts. The ECM collagen in breast cancer, that is mainly composed of collagen types I, III and V, has multiple roles modulating tumor growth, cancer cell invasiveness and metastasis. Here by Masson Trichrome and Immunohistochemistry/Aniline Blue co-stains for collagen fibers and proliferation index (Ki-67) in breast cancer FFPE tissue samples, we identified a statistically significant correlation between collagen deposition and Estrogen Receptor (ER)) status (p&lt; 0.05, proliferation index (p&lt; 0.01) and histological Grade (p=0.01). Further, in order to expand and support our findings, we analyzed the METABRIC study through the cBioPortal hub in relevance to collagen genes and multiple clinicopathological parameters. We were able to identify a coregulated subset of collagen genes that presented a positive correlation with ER-positive (p&lt; 10−10, q&lt; 10−10), low proliferating (p&lt; 10−10, q&lt; 10−10), Grade I (p=2.35e−9, q&lt; 1.07e−8) group of breast cancer cases, supporting our findings. In addition, analyses of collagen-high patients from the METABRIC study indicated that most cases presented with PIK3CA, CBFB and MAP3K1 mutations, while through the g.Profiler software we identified collagen-high relevant gene signatures that encompassed gene ontology terms related to tissue development, extracellular matrix organization and cell migration. Collectively, our preliminary results indicate that ECM collagen deposition in breast cancer is characteristic of low-grade tumors with a better differentiation and possibly with a favorable prognosis.

Citation Format: Angelos Koutras, Chaido Sirinian, Olga Bogri, Martha Nifora, Maria Theakou, Soren Degn, Ioannis Mouratidis, Dimitrios Chaniotis, Stavros Peroukidis, Ilias Georgakopoulos-Soares, Anastasios Papanastasiou. Collagen deposition in the breast cancer microenvironment correlates with ER-positive, Histological Grade I and low proliferation tumors [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2023 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(9 Suppl):Abstract nr PO4-26-03.