title: The association between vascular endothelial growth factor-C, its corresponding receptor, VEGFR-3, and prognosis in primary breast cancer: a study with 193 cases.
abstract: Lymphangiogenesis plays an important role in several normal and pathological conditions, such as wound healing, pathogen infection, inflammation or the metastasis formation of endothelial malignancies. Vascular endothelial growth factor-C (VEGF-C) and VEGF-D are important and specific regulatory factors for lymphatic endothelial proliferation and lymphangiogenesis. Both growth factors mediate their biological activity mainly by VEGF receptor-3 (VEGFR-3, Flt-4). In this study, we measured intratumoral levels of VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 through enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 193 primary breast cancer tissues and examined their prognostic values. A significant correlation was found between the VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 protein levels. High VEGF-C levels were associated with low-grade tumors and a smaller size. Univariate analysis showed that high VEGF-C was significantly associated with a favourable prognosis for disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). No significant prognostic value of VEGFR-3 was detected. Multivariate analysis confirmed the independent prognostic value of VEGF-C. The intratumoral VEGF-C level is a significant prognostic indicator of primary breast cancer. An investigation of the mechanisms of VEGF-C protein processing in human cancer tissue should be carried out in the future.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Tokyo Metropolitan Komagome Hospital, Tokyo Metropolitan Cancer and Infectious Disease Center,Tokyo 113-8677, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bando
authors.forename: Herbert A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Weich
authors.forename: Shinichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Horiguchi
authors.forename: Nobuaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Funata
authors.forename: Taeko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.forename: Masakazu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Toi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011379:Prognosis; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000032:analysis; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone / Q000032:analysis; D012044:Regression Analysis; D016019:Survival Analysis; D042582:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C / Q000032:analysis*; D040321:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-3 / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone; D042582:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C; D040321:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-3