Expression of hMAM, VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 in breast cancer tissues and its relation with prognosis / 第二军医大学学报

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the expression of human-mammaglobin (hMAM) and vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 3 (VEGFR-3) in breast cancer tissues, and to analyze its relationship with biological characteristics and prognosis of breast cancer. Methods The expression of hMAM, VEGF-C andVEGFR-3 was determined by immunohistochemical technique in 116 breast cancer tissues and 44 adjacent normal tissues (from cancer tissue≥ 5 cm) using tissue microarray technology (TMA). Results (1) The positive rates of hMAM, VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 in primary breast carcinoma tissues were significantly higher than those in the adjacent normal tissues (59. 48% [69/116] vs 0. 00%, 50. 86% [59/116] vs 9. 09% and 61. 20% [71/116] vs 18. 18%, respectively, all P<0. 01). (2)The positive rates of hMAM, VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 were significantly correlated with axillary lymph node metastasis, and the positive rates of hMAM, VEGFR-3 were significantly correlated with histological gradings (all P<0. 05). (3) Spearman rank correlation analysis showed that the positive rates of hMAM, VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 in breast cancer tissues were all significantly correlated with each other, with correlation coefficients being 0. 278, 0. 280, and 0. 244, respectively, all P<0. 05). (4)Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the disease-free survival and 5-year overall survival of patients with negative expression of HMAM, VEGF-Cand VEGFR-3 were significantly prolonger compared to those with positive expression (Log-rank test, P< 0. 05). Conclusion hMAM, VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 are highly expressed in breast cancer patients, which might be associated with the invasion and metastasis of breast cancer, and hMAM expression might be related to the lymphangiogenesis of breast cancer.