The feasibility of in vivo measurements in the range of 1000 to 1100 nm and the potential benefits of operation in that wavelength range for diagnostic applications are investigated. To this purpose, an existing system for time-resolved diffuse spectroscopy is modified to enable in vivo studies to be carried out continuously from 600 to 1100 nm. The optical characterization of collagen powder is extended to 1100 nm and an accurate measurement of the absorption properties of lipid is carried out over the entire spectral range. Finally, the first in vivo absorption and scattering spectra of breast tissue are measured from 10 healthy volunteers between 600 and 1100 nm and tissue composition is evaluated in terms of blood parameters and water, lipid, and collagen content using a spectrally constrained global fitting procedure.