India Pharma Outlook Team | Saturday, 17 May 2025
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have found that alterations in the structure and cell composition of breast connective tissue, or stroma, are associated with a heightened risk for aggressive breast cancer in women with benign breast disease.
This process, known as stromal disruption, can also forecast worse survival among women who already have invasive breast cancer. The results provide novel opportunities for utilizing stromal disruption as a low-budget biomarker for the detection of high-risk individuals and guiding directed prevention and treatment protocol.
Key Takeaways:
Also read: How Radiotherapy is Transforming Breast Cancer Treatment
Researchers examined 9,220 samples of breast tissue, including healthy tissue, benign breast disease biopsies, and invasive cancer. Machine learning was employed to detect extremely subtle architectural and cellular alterations in stromal tissue undetectable with routine screening.
Women having benign breast disease showing extensive stromal disturbance were more likely to develop aggressive breast cancer and had a faster progression than those who had minimal changes—highlighting its potential as an early-warning biomarker.
Stromal disruption was more common in those women having already established risk factors such as obesity, younger age at childbirth, multiple births, Black race, and family history of breast cancer, suggesting a shared biological pathway.
In invasive breast cancer, particularly estrogen receptor-positive tumors, more disruption was associated with more virulent tumors and worse survival.
Most importantly, stromal disruption is cheap to screen for and might be particularly valuable in low-resource environments. Investigators urge additional studies to determine whether anti-inflammatory medication or lifestyle modification may prevent such tissue changes and lower cancer risk in high-risk populations.
, CDSCO.jpg)
