The prognostic value of insulin-like growth factor-I in breast cancer patients. Results of a follow-up study on 126 patients.

The insulin-like growth factor-I is an important mitogen and has a growth promoting property, especially in breast cancer. This work analyses the prognostic value of the insulin-like growth factor receptor-I (IGFR-I), which belongs to the group of membrane receptors for growth factors. The study included 126 patients. 49 patients (39%) were IGFR positive (> or = 4.0%). There was a significant correlation between IGFR and oestrogen receptor (ER) status (P = 0.001), but not between IGFR and progesterone receptor status (PR; P = 0.07). There was no correlation between node status and IGFR. The expression of IGFR had a strong significance in the disease-free analysis (P = 0.0108). The IGFR status was not of predictive value in the node-negative subgroup (64 patients). Within the ER-negative group, the disease-free analysis further stratified with IGFR revealed that patients with IGFR-positive and ER-negative cancers are in a worse situation than IGFR-negative ER-negative cancer patients (P = 0.01).