Quantitative analysis of collagen morphology in breast cancer from millimeter scale using multiphoton microscopy

Abstract

The tumor microenvironment (TME) is now recognized as an important participant of tumor progression. As the most abundant extracellular matrix component in TME, collagen plays an important role in tumor development. The imaging study of collagen morphological feature in TME is of great significance for understanding the state of tumor. Multiphoton microscopy (MPM), based on second harmonic generation (SHG) and two-photon excitation fluorescence (TPEF), can be used to monitor the morphological changes of biological tissues without labeling. In this study, we used MPM for large-scale imaging of early invasive breast cancer from the tumor center to normal tissues far from the tumor. We found that there were significant differences in collagen morphology between breast cancer tumor boundary, near tumor transition region and normal tissues far from the tumor. Furthermore, the morphological feature of eight collagen fibers was extracted to quantify the variation trend of collagen in three regions. These results may provide a new perspective for the optimal negative margin width of breast-conserving surgery and the understanding of tumor metastasis.