Growth factor an indicator for poor outcomes in invasive breast cancer.(vascular endothelial growth factor)

2002 NOV 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - A long-term study of females with node-negative invasive breast cancers has determined a major growth factor can predict recurrence and survival in patients diagnosed with such cancers.

None of the 574 women who participated in the study received adjuvant systemic therapy during follow-up, according to P. Manders and colleagues, University Medical Centre Mijmegen, the Netherlands.

"In this study, we investigated whether vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is associated with the natural course of the disease in primary invasive breast cancer," Manders and coauthors noted. Some studies have linked serum and cellular (cytosolic) VEGF levels to tumor proliferation and invasion in a variety of cancers, including breast cancer. A distinctive element of the Netherlands study was that women did not receive systemic drugs to augment primary therapy for their invasive breast cancers.

Doctors followed women enrolled in the study for a median period of 61 months after breast cancer diagnoses were made.

"VEGF level was positively associated with age and tumor size," Manders and colleagues said. "In addition, VEGF level was inversely, but weakly correlated with progesterone receptor levels."

In univariate analysis, a cytosolic VEGF level greater than or equal to0.53 ng/mg protein was indicative of the risk for poorer outcomes, ...