BACKGROUND: There is now much data that suggest a relationship between angiogenesis and breast cancer prognosis. Angiogenesis is a multistep process resulting from an ordered set of events and regulated by positive and negative modulators of microvessels growth and by the expression of various proteolytic enzymes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We prospectively evaluated VEGF and microvessels density on tumor specimen and cytosolic levels of uPA and PAI-1. RESULTS: We enrolled 81 primary breast cancer patients. The median follow-up was 38 months. Using the median value as cutoff for the statistical analysis, we found significant correlation between cytosolic levels of uPA and PAI-1 (r = 0.61; p < .0001), between VEGF and steroid hormone receptor status (p = .01), between PAI-1 and tumor grading (p = .009), and between uPA and tumor size greater than 1 cm (p = .04). With respect to the prognosis, we observed a significant correlation between low uPA levels and RFS and an unforeseen, direct correlation between high VEGF values and better RFS. CONCLUSIONS: Our preliminary results indicate that the cytosolic level of uPA at diagnosis may be predictive of early relapse in primary breast cancer.
BACKGROUND: There is now much data that suggest a relationship between angiogenesis and breast cancer prognosis. Angiogenesis is a multistep process resulting from an ordered set of events and regulated by positive and negative modulators of microvessels growth and by the expression of various proteolytic enzymes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We prospectively evaluated VEGF and microvessels density on tumor specimen and cytosolic levels of uPA and PAI-1. RESULTS: We enrolled 81 primary breast cancerpatients. The median follow-up was 38 months. Using the median value as cutoff for the statistical analysis, we found significant correlation between cytosolic levels of uPA and PAI-1 (r = 0.61; p < .0001), between VEGF and steroid hormone receptor status (p = .01), between PAI-1 and tumor grading (p = .009), and between uPA and tumor size greater than 1 cm (p = .04). With respect to the prognosis, we observed a significant correlation between low uPA levels and RFS and an unforeseen, direct correlation between high VEGF values and better RFS. CONCLUSIONS: Our preliminary results indicate that the cytosolic level of uPA at diagnosis may be predictive of early relapse in primary breast cancer.
Authors: Nancy Dos Santos; Golareh Habibi; Michelle Wang; Jennifer H Law; Heather N Andrews; Daniel Wei; Timothy Triche; Shoukat Dedhar; Sandra E Dunn Journal: Transl Oncogenomics Date: 2007-07-23