INTRODUCTION: Studies investigating the prognostic effect of circulating TGF-beta-1 in breast cancer have given inconsistent findings. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether circulating transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta-1) is associated with overall and disease-free survival in a cohort of recently diagnosed breast cancer patients. METHODS: We measured TGF-beta-1 levels in plasma samples of breast cancer patients in the Shanghai Breast Cancer Study, a population-based case-control study. We evaluated the relationship between TGF-beta-1 levels and overall and disease-free survival. The median follow up time was 7.2 years. RESULTS: We observed that, compared with the patients with the lowest quartile of plasma TGF-beta-1, patients with the highest quartile of plasma TGF-beta-1 had significantly worse overall survival with hazards ratio (HR) = 2.78, with 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.34-5.79 and disease-free survival with HR = 2.49, 95% CI: 1.15-5.41, while the patients with the second and third quartiles of plasma TGF-beta-1 did not have significantly different overall and disease-free breast cancer survival. The shape of association between plasma TGF-beta-1 levels and breast cancer survival appears to be non-linear. Stratified analysis by stage of disease did not appreciably change the association pattern. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the relationship between circulating levels of TGF-beta-1 and prognosis in breast cancer is complex and non-linear. High levels of TGF-beta-1 are associated with worse survival independent of stage of disease.
INTRODUCTION: Studies investigating the prognostic effect of circulating TGF-beta-1 in breast cancer have given inconsistent findings. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether circulating transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta-1) is associated with overall and disease-free survival in a cohort of recently diagnosed breast cancerpatients. METHODS: We measured TGF-beta-1 levels in plasma samples of breast cancerpatients in the Shanghai Breast Cancer Study, a population-based case-control study. We evaluated the relationship between TGF-beta-1 levels and overall and disease-free survival. The median follow up time was 7.2 years. RESULTS: We observed that, compared with the patients with the lowest quartile of plasma TGF-beta-1, patients with the highest quartile of plasma TGF-beta-1 had significantly worse overall survival with hazards ratio (HR) = 2.78, with 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.34-5.79 and disease-free survival with HR = 2.49, 95% CI: 1.15-5.41, while the patients with the second and third quartiles of plasma TGF-beta-1 did not have significantly different overall and disease-free breast cancer survival. The shape of association between plasma TGF-beta-1 levels and breast cancer survival appears to be non-linear. Stratified analysis by stage of disease did not appreciably change the association pattern. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the relationship between circulating levels of TGF-beta-1 and prognosis in breast cancer is complex and non-linear. High levels of TGF-beta-1 are associated with worse survival independent of stage of disease.
Authors: Vidya Ganapathy; Rongrong Ge; Alison Grazioli; Wen Xie; Whitney Banach-Petrosky; Yibin Kang; Scott Lonning; John McPherson; Jonathan M Yingling; Swati Biswas; Gregory R Mundy; Michael Reiss Journal: Mol Cancer Date: 2010-05-26 Impact factor: 27.401
Authors: Mary L Disis; Danelle R Wallace; Theodore A Gooley; Yushe Dang; Meredith Slota; Hailing Lu; Andrew L Coveler; Jennifer S Childs; Doreen M Higgins; Patricia A Fintak; Corazon dela Rosa; Kathleen Tietje; John Link; James Waisman; Lupe G Salazar Journal: J Clin Oncol Date: 2009-08-31 Impact factor: 44.544