Sheen-Chen Shyr-Ming, Liu Yueh-Wei, Eng Hock-Liew, Chou Fong-Fu
Departmen of Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2005 Mar;14(3):715-7. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-04-0340.
Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) has been reported the cause of many biological events, including cell proliferation, movement, invasiveness, morphogenesis, and angiogenesis. Elevated hepatocyte growth factor content in tumor tissue was reported to predict a more aggressive biology in non-small cell lung cancer patients. However, there is still limited knowledge about the role of HGF in breast cancer. This study was designed with the aim to elucidate the possible relationship between the preoperative circulating soluble HGF and breast cancer.
One hundred twenty-four consecutive patients with invasive breast cancer undergoing surgery were prospectively included and evaluated. Venous blood samples were collected before the surgery. Sera were obtained by centrifugation and stored at -70 degrees C until assayed. The control group consisted of 35 patients with benign breast tumor (20 with fibrocystic disease and 15 with fibroadenoma). Serum concentrations of soluble HGF were measured by the quantitative sandwich enzyme immunoassay technique. The data on primary tumor staging, age, estrogen receptor status, lymph node status, distant metastases status, histologic grading, and tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging were reviewed and recorded.
The mean value of serum soluble HGF in patients with invasive breast cancer was 529.05 +/- 123.33 pg/mL and that of control group was 343.00+/- 31.03 pg/mL and the difference was significant (P < 0.001). Furthermore, there were significantly higher serum levels of soluble HGF in patients with negative estrogen receptor (P = 0.035), in patients with poorer differentiated tumor (P < 0.001), in patients with more advanced primary tumor staging (P < 0.001), in patients with more advanced lymph node status (P < 0.001), in patients with distant metastases (P < 0.001), and in patients with more advanced TNM staging (P < 0.001). In multivariate analysis by the multiple linear regression method, TNM staging (P < 0.001) seemed an independent factor regarding the significant higher serum levels of soluble HGF.
Patients with more advanced TNM staging were shown to have higher serum soluble HGF. Thus, preoperative serum soluble HGF levels might reflect the severity of invasive breast cancer and deserve further evaluation.
肝细胞生长因子（HGF）已被报道可引发多种生物学事件，包括细胞增殖、移动、侵袭、形态发生和血管生成。据报道，肿瘤组织中肝细胞生长因子含量升高可预测非小细胞肺癌患者具有更具侵袭性的生物学行为。然而，关于HGF在乳腺癌中的作用仍知之甚少。本研究旨在阐明术前循环可溶性HGF与乳腺癌之间的可能关系。
前瞻性纳入并评估了124例连续接受手术的浸润性乳腺癌患者。术前采集静脉血样本。通过离心获得血清，并储存在-70℃直至检测。对照组由35例乳腺良性肿瘤患者组成（20例患有纤维囊性疾病，15例患有纤维腺瘤）。采用定量夹心酶免疫测定技术测量血清可溶性HGF浓度。回顾并记录了关于原发肿瘤分期、年龄、雌激素受体状态、淋巴结状态、远处转移状态、组织学分级和肿瘤-淋巴结-转移（TNM）分期的数据。
浸润性乳腺癌患者血清可溶性HGF的平均值为529.05±123.33 pg/mL，对照组为343.00±31.03 pg/mL，差异具有统计学意义（P<0.001）。此外，雌激素受体阴性患者（P = 0.035）、肿瘤分化较差患者（P<0.001）、原发肿瘤分期较晚患者（P<0.001）、淋巴结状态较晚患者（P<0.001）、有远处转移患者（P<0.001）以及TNM分期较晚患者（P<0.001）的血清可溶性HGF水平显著更高。在采用多元线性回归方法进行的多因素分析中，TNM分期（P<0.001）似乎是血清可溶性HGF水平显著升高的一个独立因素。
TNM分期较晚的患者血清可溶性HGF水平较高。因此，术前血清可溶性HGF水平可能反映浸润性乳腺癌的严重程度，值得进一步评估。
