Collagen structure as a predictor of tumour presence and metastatic capacity

Recent work for the group has examined the potential of Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) as a diagnostic indicator for breast cancer. These studies have identified changes in collaged structure, the major structural component of the extra-cellular matrix (ECM), as a promising diagnostic indicator. These changes are hypthesised to arise from the degradation and remodelling of the ECM that occurs during cancer progression. More intriguingly, changes were detected in the ECM several centimeters away from tumours, in tissue that was histopathologically normal. The changes appeared to be systematic, decreasing in magnitude with distance from the tumour site.