Abstract

The importance of tumor angiogenesis in the process of tumor growth and progression in solid tumors has been widely accepted. We have investigated the significance of tumor angiogenesis as a prognostic indicator in a retrospective study including 328 primary breast cancer patients. The postoperative survey demonstrated that the microvessel density (MVD) evaluated by immunocytochemical staining for factor VIII-related antigen is a potent prognostic indicator. The relapse-free survival (RFS) rate of patients with over 100 microvessels/mm2 in a microscopic field was significantly worse compared to that of patients with less than 100 microvessels/mm2 (p < 0.00001). The significance of MVD was found in both node-negative and node-positive patients (p < 0.005 and p < 0.01, respectively). Multivariate analysis confirmed that MVD is an independent prognostic indicator for RFS. In the background factor analysis, MVD was significantly correlated with the number of metastatic nodes (p < 0.01). In addition, the immunocytochemical analysis for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) demonstrated a close association between the increase in MVD and the expression of VEGF (p < 0.001). VEGF status also was a significant prognostic indicator in univariate analysis for RFS (p < 0.01). It was concluded that MVD is a potent prognostic indicator in primary breast cancer. Furthermore, it was also suggested that VEGF plays crucial roles in the promotion of angiogenesis in breast cancer.