Fig. 5

The transcriptional response module associated with the collagen-induced network phenotype (CINP) is predictive of poor prognosis in human tumor datasets. a Kaplan–Meier survival analysis of stage I breast cancer patients from TCGA and b METABRIC databases, when the PC1 loadings were used as an expression metagene. High CINP refers to the highest metagene expression scores and low CINP to the lowest expression scores. HR indicates hazard ratio. c Sections of a primary breast carcinoma displaying the clinical VM phenotype of chain-like cell structures surrounded by a matrix network. Column 1: red blood cells, stained by an antibody against GYPA, are indicated by arrows. Several red blood cells are traversing the matrix surrounded by cancer cells. Column 2: tumor cells are negative for CD31 but in healthy tissue, stained regions colocalize to vessel structures. Column 3: tumor cells stain strongly for glycogen synthase, which likely contributes to the generation of a glycogen-rich matrix between the chains of cells. Columns 4–6: tumor cells undergoing VM stain strongly for three of the most upregulated genes in our 70-gene module. Image credit for d: Human Protein Atlas, patient ID 1910, available from www.proteinatlas.org ⁴⁸. See “Methods” for analysis details