Collagen in human breast cancer: morphological and biochemical study.

ABSTRACT

The authors studied the distribution and the composition of collagen in neoplastic tissue from mastectomy specimens of 15 patients treated for an infiltrating ductal carcinoma NOS, in comparison to normal tissue of the opposite quadrant. The study was performed by light microscopy, microspectrophotometry, and electrophoretic methods. The results demonstrate a characteristic stromal organization of breast cancer in relation to collagen type I content.