Abstract 1514: Proteomics of human dense breast stroma.

Dense breast contains glandular and connective tissue. Less dense breasts are mainly comprised of fat tissue. Dense breast tissue itself is a risk factor for breast cancer with the risk being 4-6 fold higher in women with extremely dense breasts compared to fatty breasts. Typically, breast cancer is more likely to develop in the denser areas of the breast. Furthermore, on mammogram, a tumor is more difficult to detect in dense tissue than in fatty tissue because the tumor looks similar to the tissue that surrounds it. Recognition of the important role of the stroma during the progression of breast cancer leads to the possibility of new targets for the prevention or treatment of the primary breast cancer. In addition, clinically useful biomarkers for the early detection of risk for breast cancer in dense breasts could lead to a significant reduction of mortality. In this investigation we describe a detailed analysis of normal and dense breast stroma using laser microdissection in combination with mass spectrometry and immunohistochemistry of normal and dense breast stroma. Using this approach several potential markers for dense breast were identified and compared to stromal markers associated with breast cancer. Citation Format: Jay W. Fox, Leann Mikesh, Lavakumar R. Aramadhaka, Christopher A. Moskulak. Proteomics of human dense breast stroma. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1514. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-1514