Figure 2.

Extracellular breast Osteopontin (OPN) levels in vivo and its correlations with extracellular protease levels in vivo in normal human breast tissue. Microdialysis was used to sample in vivo extracellular molecules from breast tissue of women. Proteins were quantified using a multiplex proximity extension assay as described in the materials and methods section. A total of 94 microdialysis investigations of normal breast tissue unexposed to any treatment is depicted; 42 post-menopausal healthy volunteer women, attending the regular mammography-screening program; 21 post-menopausal women treated for early breast cancer investigated in their unaffected normal breast before the start of adjuvant tamoxifen therapy; 13 post-menopausal healthy volunteer women before the start of dietary flaxseed addition; 10 premenopausal healthy volunteer women before the start of dietary flaxseed addition; and four premenopausal women in two consecutive luteal phases of the menstrual cycle. Statistics were calculated using Pearson's correlations coefficient on ranked data.