Figure 3

Fraction of ciliated stromal cells decrease as breast cancer develops. (A) Image showing stromal cells (str) next to a normal duct (left) or next to a cancer (ca) structure (right). Insets show cilia (acetylated tubulin, red) and their associated centrosomes (γ-tubulin, green) on stromal cells. (B) Boxplot represents percent of ciliated stromal cells in the following breast tissue types: normal breast reduction mammoplasties (RM, n = 12), histologically normal epithelium adjacent to cancer (HNE, n = 15), carcinoma in situ lesions grades 1 and 2 combined (CIS 1&2, n = 23), carcinoma in situ grade 3 (CIS3, n = 16), invasive cancers grades 1 and 2 combined (INV 1&2, n = 40), invasive cancer grade 3 (INV3, n = 25). The bar graph represents the percent of patients that have an abnormally low percentage of ciliated stromal cells (blue bars: Quartile 1 (Q1), less than or equal to the 75th percentile for normal tissue) or an abnormally high percentage of ciliated stromal cells (orange bars: quartile 4 (Q4), greater than or equal to the 25th percentile for normal tissue). Statistical significance (** = P <0.01, *** = P <0.001) was determined by performing logistic regression compared to normal RM.