MacConmara Malcolm, O'Hanlon Deirdre M, Kiely Mark James, Connolly Yvonne, Jeffers Michael, Keane F B V
Department of Surgery, Adelaide and Meath Hospitals, Tallaght, Dublin 24, Ireland.
Int J Oncol. 2002 Apr;20(4):717-21.
Angiogenesis is intimately related to the growth and progression of tumours and must be induced to facilitate growth beyond a minimum size. It has been implicated in the development of metastases and survival in breast carcinoma. VEGF is a cytokine that plays an important role in angiogenesis. Its expression is increased in solid tumours during induction of angiogenesis and it has been implicated as a prognostic marker in patients with node negative breast carcinoma. We studied VEGF expression, in a series of patients with node positive breast carcinoma and examined histopathological parameters of the tumour and the prognostic value of VEGF expression. Specimens from 108 cases of node positive breast cancer were stained for VEGF using an antibody suitable for use on formalin fixed tissue. VEGF staining was cytoplasmic and was scored by intensity and the percent positive cells. Patients with positive VEGF staining (n=48) were compared with patients with negative VEGF staining (n=60). Demographic criteria were similar in both groups. Only one (12%) patient with lobular carcinoma and one (14%) patient with medullary carcinoma expressed VEGF compared with 46 (49%) patients with ductal carcinoma (NOS). DCIS was present in 60 tumours. There was a strong correlation between staining in DCIS and the adjacent invasive tumours. There was no significant association between VEGF staining and T stage, tumour size or the number of positive lymph nodes. VEGF expression had no prognostic significance either for disease-free or overall survival in patients with node positive disease. This study failed to support a role for VEGF as a prognostic marker in patients with node positive breast carcinoma.
血管生成与肿瘤的生长和进展密切相关，并且必须被诱导以促进肿瘤生长超过最小尺寸。它与乳腺癌转移的发生及患者生存有关。血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）是一种在血管生成中起重要作用的细胞因子。在实体瘤血管生成诱导过程中其表达增加，并且它被认为是淋巴结阴性乳腺癌患者的一个预后标志物。我们研究了一系列淋巴结阳性乳腺癌患者的VEGF表达情况，并检查了肿瘤的组织病理学参数以及VEGF表达的预后价值。使用适用于福尔马林固定组织的抗体对108例淋巴结阳性乳腺癌病例的标本进行VEGF染色。VEGF染色呈细胞质染色，根据强度和阳性细胞百分比进行评分。将VEGF染色阳性的患者（n = 48）与VEGF染色阴性的患者（n = 60）进行比较。两组的人口统计学标准相似。与46例（49%）导管癌（NOS）患者相比，小叶癌患者中只有1例（12%）、髓样癌患者中只有1例（14%）表达VEGF。60个肿瘤中存在导管原位癌（DCIS）。DCIS中的染色与相邻浸润性肿瘤之间存在很强的相关性。VEGF染色与T分期、肿瘤大小或阳性淋巴结数量之间无显著关联。VEGF表达对淋巴结阳性疾病患者的无病生存期或总生存期均无预后意义。本研究未能支持VEGF作为淋巴结阳性乳腺癌患者预后标志物的作用。
