Intratumoral collagen correlates with histological grade and patient prognosis in breast cancer.

Chaido Sirinian; Fabio Marchian&#xf2;; Elpida Kenanidou; Harry Zaverdas; Martina Samiotaki; Anna Maria Ioannou; Konstantinos Theofilatos; Maria Ioanna Argentou; S&#xf8;ren E Degn; Stavros Peroukidis; Maria Rusan; Vasiliki Zolota; Angelos Koutras; Seferina Mavroudi; Helen Kourea; Charlotte K Y Ng; Anastasios D Papanastasiou

doi:10.1016/j.yexmp.2026.105066

PubMed · 42442131

Intratumoral collagen correlates with histological grade and patient prognosis in breast cancer.

Chaido Sirinian·Fabio Marchianò·Elpida Kenanidou·Harry Zaverdas·Martina Samiotaki·Anna Maria Ioannou·Konstantinos Theofilatos·Maria Ioanna Argentou·Søren E Degn·Stavros Peroukidis·Maria Rusan·Vasiliki Zolota·Angelos Koutras·Seferina Mavroudi·Helen Kourea·Charlotte K Y Ng·Anastasios D Papanastasiou

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Abstract

Histological grading, using the Nottingham Grading System (NGS), is a major prognostic indicator for breast cancer. NGS involves the scoring of cancer cell-related morphological features, yet it overlooks tumor microenvironment (TME) components such as collagen. Collagen proteins, integral to the extracellular matrix (ECM), influence tumor architecture and progression but their relationship with histological grade is not fully characterized. Here, we assessed intratumoral collagen deposition using Masson Trichrome staining of whole slides (n = 166), proteomic profiling (n = 2) and transcriptomic analyses of the METABRIC (n = 1827) and TCGA-BRCA (n = 753) cohorts. We showed that low-grade tumors display significantly higher intratumoral collagen deposition compared to high-grade tumors. Moreover, we demonstrated that collagen expression at the transcript and protein levels (Masson Trichrome) could discriminate Grade II carcinomas into distinct prognostic groups, in which patients with Grade II carcinomas with elevated levels of collagen expression were associated with lower pTNM stage and better survival outcomes. Our results support the inclusion of TME features, such as collagen deposition, to enhance prognostic accuracy in breast cancer.

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Humans Female Breast Neoplasms Prognosis Collagen Neoplasm Grading Tumor Microenvironment Biomarkers, Tumor Extracellular Matrix Proteomics Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic Breast cancer Collagen deposition Histological grade Tumor microenvironment Journal Article

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Chaido Sirinian, Fabio Marchianò, Elpida Kenanidou, Harry Zaverdas, Martina Samiotaki, Anna Maria Ioannou, Konstantinos Theofilatos, Maria Ioanna Argentou, Søren E Degn, Stavros Peroukidis, Maria Rusan, Vasiliki Zolota, Angelos Koutras, Seferina Mavroudi, Helen Kourea, Charlotte K Y Ng, Anastasios D Papanastasiou. 2026-07-13. Intratumoral collagen correlates with histological grade and patient prognosis in breast cancer.. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yexmp.2026.105066

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