Analisi morfostrutturale e biochimiche dello stroma del carcinoma duttale infiltrante della mammella umana

Structural and biochemical analyses have been performed on the stroma.of ductal infiltrating carcinoma of the human breast, with particular attention to collagen, as the most prominent component of extracellular matrix. Collagen fibrils are mainly organized into waving sheets and bundles, having from regular to whirling organization in the different region of the stroma. The distribution of collagen fibril diameters appears multimodal, in the range of small-medium size, as it is frequently found in embryonic and proliferating connective tissues. The biochemical analyses are in agreement with structural features, since it has been detected an increase of type 111 collagen and an extra-amount of a, (I) chains which are probably assembled as homotrimer type I: both molecules being mostly represented in embryonic, foetal and yong connective tissues. The biological implications of these findings are discussed.