title: Significance of circulating hepatocyte growth factor level as a prognostic indicator in primary breast cancer.
abstract: The circulating hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)/scatter factor level is frequently increased in advanced cancer patients. In this study, we have assessed the prognostic value of the circulating HGF level determined by enzymatic immunoassay in primary breast cancer patients. Of 200 primary breast cancer patients, 54 (27.0%) showed the increase of serum HGF level according to the age-matched cutoff values. The prognosis of the patients with the increased HGF level was statistically worse than that of the patients with normal HGF level (P = 0.0001, log-rank test). Multivariate analysis confirmed that the increase in HGF level was an independent prognostic indicator in primary breast cancer patients. In the background analysis, the increase in serum HGF level was significantly associated with tumor size, nodal status, and histological evidence of venous invasion. The data indicate that up-regulation of the circulating HGF level may predict systemic tumor spread and early relapse in primary breast cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Tokyo Metropolitan Komagome Hospital, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Toi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ueno
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Asano
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Funata
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sekiguchi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Iwanari
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tominaga
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D001941:Breast Diseases / Q000097:blood*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D017698:Postmenopause; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D017697:Premenopause; D011379:Prognosis; D012008:Recurrence; D012016:Reference Values; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor