Collagenase secretion by human breast neoplasms: a clinicopathologic investigation

Evidence is presented that biopsy specimens from fibroadenomas, benign cystic lesions, and carcinomas of the human breast can produce in organ culture a neutral protease capable of digesting type I collagen. This enzyme activity, measured with the use of a radioactive release assay, was characterized as true vertebrate collagenase and occurred in both active and latent (requiring trypsin activation) forms. For the two types of benign breast lesion studied, collagenase secretion was significantly higher from fibroadenomas than from benign cystic tissue. Breast carcinomas, however, exhibited a wide quantitative spectrum of collagenase secretion, encompassing the extremes observed for the benign lesions and showing no correlation with histologic type. These results, while providing a plausible mechanism for the marked collagen degradation seen in disseminating neoplasms, demonstrate that high collagenase secretory activity is not pathognomonic of invasive behavior. The findings, however, indicate disordered regulation of collagenase activity in malignant tumors.