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Figure 2 | Breast Cancer Research

Figure 2

From: The microenvironment in breast cancer progression: biology and implications for treatment

Figure 2

Alterations of the microenvironment in breast cancer progression from in situ to invasive carcinoma. (A) Schematic (transverse) view of the ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Although the ducts are enclosed by the altered myoepithelial cells surrounded by the basement membrane, the multiple cell types of the stroma of DCIS have dramatically changed to create a favorable tumor microenvironment. (B) Longitudinal view of the duct from DCIS to invasive ductal carcinoma transition. Invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) is defined by degradation of the basement membrane, loss of myoepithelial cells, and invasion of epithelial cells into the stroma and vasculature. Tumor cells invade into the local environment due to the loss of the structural duct and autocrine/paracrine signaling that activated cell migration. The production of extracellular matrix-degrading proteases by the tumor cells and stromal cells is elevated during the in situ to invasive carcinoma transition, leading to destruction of the extracellular matrix such that the tumor cells can invade locally and release more secreted factors. Aberrantly secreted proteolytic enzymes, chemokines, and cytokines continue to attract leukocytes, modulate tumor remodeling, and increase tumor cell invasion to distant organs, eventually leading to metastasis.

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