AUTHOR=Gurrala Rakesh , Byrne C. Ethan , Brown Loren M. , Tiongco Rafael Felix P. , Matossian Margarite D. , Savoie Jonathan J. , Collins-Burow Bridgette M. , Burow Matthew E. , Martin Elizabeth C. , Lau Frank H. TITLE=Quantifying Breast Cancer-Driven Fiber Alignment and Collagen Deposition in Primary Human Breast Tissue JOURNAL=Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology VOLUME=9 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/bioengineering-and-biotechnology/articles/10.3389/fbioe.2021.618448 DOI=10.3389/fbioe.2021.618448 ISSN=2296-4185 ABSTRACT=
Solid tumor progression is significantly influenced by interactions between cancer cells and the surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM). Specifically, the cancer cell-driven changes to ECM fiber alignment and collagen deposition impact tumor growth and metastasis. Current methods of quantifying these processes are incomplete, require simple or artificial matrixes, rely on uncommon imaging techniques, preclude the use of biological and technical replicates, require destruction of the tissue, or are prone to segmentation errors. We present a set of methodological solutions to these shortcomings that were developed to quantify these processes in cultured,