Mural β3-integrin signposts Stroma6, a gene signature predicting early relapse in low-risk and chemoresistant breast cancer
The Oncotype DX (ODX) assay guides adjuvant chemotherapy in ER+/HER2- breast cancer but overlooks drivers from the tumour stroma, leaving some low-risk and chemotherapy-spared patients vulnerable to rapid relapse. Here, we show that perivascular mural {beta}3-integrin protein expression predicts early (3-year) relapse in ODX low-risk patients (HR = 15.80, P = 0.010), from which we derived a translatable 6-gene stromal signature, termed Stroma6. High Stroma6 expression predicted early recurrence in the ODX low-risk discovery cohort, with zero early relapses in the low-expression group. External validation in the METABRIC dataset confirmed that Stroma6 independently predicts rapid recurrence in ODX low-risk patients (HR = 11.68, P = 0.002). Furthermore, Stroma6 utility extends to clinical chemoresistance, independently predicting early events in a pan-subtype cohort with residual disease following neoadjuvant chemotherapy (HR = 2.29, P = 0.003). Ultimately, Stroma6 is a robust prognostic signature identifying patients at high risk of early recurrence across diverse clinical contexts.