Neoplastic and stromal cells contribute to an extracellular matrix gene expression profile defining a breast cancer subtype likely to progress.

ABSTRACT: We recently showed that differential expression of extracellular matrix (ECM) genes delineates four subgroups of breast carcinomas (ECM1, -2, -3- and -4) with different clinical outcome. To further investigate the characteristics of ECM signature and its impact on tumor progression, we conducted unsupervised clustering analyses in 6 additional independent datasets of invasive breast tumors from different platforms for a total of 643 samples. Use of four different clustering algorithms identified ECM3 tumors as an independent group in all datasets tested. ECM3 showed a homogeneous gene pattern, consisting of 58 genes encoding 43 structural ECM proteins. From 26 to 41% of the cases were ECM3-enriched, and analysis of datasets relevant to gene expression in neoplastic or corresponding stromal

SUBMITTER: Triulzi T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3575489 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature