To our knowledge, this is the first time that collagen fiber architecture, characterized by short fibers and small pores, has been identified as an inducer of cancer transdifferentiation associated with a VM-like phenotype or more normal acinar phenotype, depending on the capacity of cells to upregulate ITGB1. More broadly, our findings show that collagen fiber architecture modulates the role ITGB1 plays in migration. Here, ITGB1 is linked to cancer.