Researchers Find Biomarker to Identify Women at High Risk of Developing Aggressive Breast Cancers

Researchers at the NIH have “identified a series of changes in the architecture and cell composition of connective tissues of the breast, known as stromal tissue, that is associated with an increased risk of developing aggressive breast cancer among women with benign breast disease, and poorer rates of survival among women with invasive breast cancer.”

This process, “which they call stromal disruption, could potentially be used as a biomarker to identify women with benign breast disease who are at high risk of developing aggressive breast cancers, as well as those with breast cancer who may be at increased risk of recurrence or death.” These insights could help “inform the development of cancer prevention and treatment strategies that target the stromal microenvironment.” Stromal disruption is also “inexpensive to assess and could be widely adopted.”

The researchers examined the stroma of 4,023 donated samples of healthy breast tissue, “974 biopsies of tissue with benign breast disease, and 4,223 biopsies of tissue with invasive breast cancer.” The same risk factors associated with aggressive breast cancer were associated with increased stromal disruption in women who donated healthy breast tissue. Women with benign breast disease also were at higher risk of developing aggressive breast cancer when they had substantial stromal disruption. Those with invasive breast cancer had poorer survival outcomes and more aggressive disease phenotypes on average when increased stromal disruption was observed.