title: Expression of Flt-1 and Flk-1 receptors for vascular endothelial growth factor on tumor cells as a new prognostic criterion for locally advanced breast cancer.
abstract: We studied expression of Flt-1 and Flk-1 receptors on tumor cells obtained from 83 patients with locally advanced breast cancer after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The mean period of observations was 32.3 months. The median recurrence-free survival periods for Flt-1(+) and Flt-1(-) patients were 55 and 32 months, respectively (p=0.0064). The overall survival periods for Flt-1(-) and Flt-1(+) patients were 45 and 67.6 months, respectively (p=0.014). The mean recurrence-free survival periods for Flk-1(+) and Flk-1(-) patients were 40.8 and 60.9 months, respectively (p=0.035). Expression of VEGF had no prognostic value. Our results show that overexpression of Flk-1 on breast cancer cells in patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy is associated with a poor prognosis. By contrast, overexpression of Flt-1 improves survival.
authors.affiliation: N N Blokhin Russian Research Center for Oncology, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Moscow.
authors.forename: L G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Zhukova
authors.forename: N V
authors.initials: NV
authors.lastname: Zhukov
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Lichinitser
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020360:Neoadjuvant Therapy; D011379:Prognosis; D012008:Recurrence; D015996:Survival Rate; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000378:metabolism*; D040281:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D040301:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2 / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D040281:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1; D040301:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2