title: Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor in invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast and the relation to angiogenesis and p53 and HER-2/neu protein expression.
abstract: The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) appears to play an important role in tumor angiogenesis. The p53 and HER-2/neu genes have been thought to regulate VEGF expression. Although the most common genetic alterations described in human breast cancer are p53 gene mutations and HER-2/neu gene amplification, there is a paucity of reports concerning a possible association between VEGF expression and p53 and HER-2/neu expression. Ninety-nine invasive ductal carcinoma cases were examined by immunohistochemical studies with anti-VEGF, anti-p53, anti-HER-2/neu, and anti-CD34 antibodies. Computerized image analysis was used to evaluate the microvessel density (MVD). Eighty-eight tumors (88.9%) were classified as being VEGF positive. Twenty-five tumors (25.3%) showed p53 protein expression, while 36 tumors (35.4%) expressed the HER-2/neu protein. The MVD ranged from 22.0 to 197.0, with a median value of 58.5 (65.4 +/- 27.9). The tumors expressing VEGF had a significantly higher MVD than those that did not (P < 0.05). VEGF expression was significantly associated with p53 protein expression (P < 0.01). In double VEGF and p53 immunohistochemical stained sections, the two markers were generally expressed in the same tumor cells. The cancer stage was the only independent prognostic factor of disease-free and overall survival. The authors' results suggest that VEGF expression plays a role in promoting angiogenesis in invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast, and p53 is likely to be involved in regulating VEGF expression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Seonam University, College of Medicine, Namwon, Korea. jshinlee@hanmail.net
authors.forename: Ji Shin
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hyung Seok
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jong Jae
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Young Bog
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Min Cheol
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Chang Soo
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D016228:Endothelial Growth Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008222:Lymphokines / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic; D011379:Prognosis; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000378:metabolism; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D042442:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D016228:Endothelial Growth Factors; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008222:Lymphokines; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D042442:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors