title: Independent prognostic factors in breast cancer patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recently tumor microvessel density has been shown to be a powerful prognostic tool in breast cancer. We attempted to assess its significance as a prognostic factor.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed the medical records of 100 patients using univariate and multivariate analyses of nine factors as follows; age, tumor size, nodal status, estrogen receptor, C-erbB2, p53, microvessel density, DNA ploidy pattern, and S-phase fraction.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nodal status and microvessel density were independent prognostic indicators for both survival and relapse-free survival. Microvessel density was independent in the node-negative subgroup for survival, but not independent in the node-positive subgroup, while it was independent in both the node-negative and node-positive subgroups for relapse-free survival. Short-term survival rates in the high and low vessel density subgroups were almost the same, and all patients with early death were node-positive.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Microvessel density was an important prognostic factor especially in node-negative patients and more significant in long-term survival.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Osaka Police Hospital, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Narita
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakao
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ogino
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakahara
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Onishi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsujimoto
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D018734:Genes, erbB-2 / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008833:Microcirculation; D008875:Middle Aged; D011003:Ploidies; D011379:Prognosis; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen