Fibrotic Focus in Breast Cancer

Despite the ongoing refinement of current breast cancer staging, clinical outcome is still varied among patients of similar stage. Further exploration of novel prognostic factors is of great clinical value. In our earlier findings, we have demonstrated the added value of fibrotic focus (FF) in the current staging. However the precise composition in different components within FF and underlying mechanism involved remain to be determined. In fact, there is unappreciated heterogeneity in FF. All these have limited its application in clinical practice. In this proposal, a systemic evaluation on the FF features in breast cancers will be performed. We aim to further characterize FF at morphological, cellular and molecular levels as well as its collagen characteristics. Given the multiple lines of evidence showing its relationship with immune components, additional attention will be put on its interaction with immune tumor environment. Finally, we plan to develop prognostic model integrating these different FF features for a more accurate risk stratification. Accumulated evidence suggested that the significance of FF in breast cancer prognosis. Moreover, the impact of fibrotic stroma on tumor immune environment may be implicative in immunotherapy. The more complete understanding of FF is pre-requisite for its development as an applicable prognostic marker in breast cancer.

Sex

Female

Minimum age

18 Years

Inclusion Criteria:

* Patients with diagnosis of breast cancer who underwent surgical excisions with all tumor blocks available

Exclusion Criteria:

* Patients who received neoadjuvant systemic treatment