The local microenvironment influences tumor progression in several important ways. A recent study by Nguyen-Ngoc and colleagues used explants of primary human and mouse mammary tumors to examine how the composition of the extracellular matrix modulates tumor cell invasion. Culture in the presence of a three-dimensional laminin-rich basement membrane, similar to the mammary basement membrane in vivo, resulted in minimal invasion. In contrast, identical tumor fragments in a collagen I matrix which resembles the interstitial breast stroma exhibited a pronounced protrusive migration and local dissemination. These data emphasize the importance of the laminin-rich basement membrane in constraining tumor cell invasion.
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