title: Canine mammary carcinomas: influence of histological grade, vascular invasion, proliferation, microvessel density and VEGFR2 expression on lymph node status and survival time.
abstract: Spontaneous invasive non-inflammatory canine mammary carcinomas (CMC) and their regional lymph nodes (LN) were analysed (n = 136). Histological grade (HG) and vascular invasion (VI) in the tumours and lymph node status were recorded. Proliferation index (PI), microvessel density (MVD) and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) expression were estimated using anti-proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), anti-von Willebrand factor and anti-Flk-1, respectively. Eighteen months follow-up was performed (34 bitches). Tumours of different grades showed differences regarding PI, Flk-1/integrated optical density (Flk-1/IOD) and MVD. Every feature showed significant association with LN status through bivariate analyses. From multivariate analyses, VI and Flk-1/IOD were selected to predict LN status. Data revealed that the probability of a CMC-bearing bitch to remain alive at 1, 4, 5 and 14-18 months was 0.91, 0.87, 0.81 and 0.77, respectively. Besides LN status, VI was the only feature positively correlated with survival time, although a trend to shorter survival of animal patients bearing high expressing VEGFR2 CMC was noted.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciencias Básicas, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina.
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Diessler
authors.affiliation: Clínica de Pequeños Animales, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Castellano
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Análisis de Imágenes, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina.
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Portiansky
authors.affiliation: LISEA (Laboratorio de Investigación de Sistemas Ecológicos y Ambientales), Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Burns
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Patología Especial "Dr. B. Epstein", Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina.
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Idiart
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008321:Mammary Glands, Animal / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D015674:Mammary Neoplasms, Animal / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D055806:Microvessels / Q000473:pathology*; D060787:Neoplasm Grading / Q000662:veterinary; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D040301:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2 / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D040301:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2
keywords: angiogenesis; dog; mammary gland; neoplasia; prognosis