High serum vascular endothelial growth factor C predicts better relapse-free survival in early clinically node-negative breast cancer

Abstract

A recent meta-analysis indicated that higher tumoral expression of vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) was related to poorer relapse-free and overall survival in breast cancer patients. However, a retrospective study found that higher circulating VEGF-C levels were associated with better survival in breast cancer patients. In 2009, we initiated a prospective study to determine the utility of preoperative serum VEGF-C levels for predicting the risk of sentinel lymph node involvement in early breast cancer and to assess serum VEGF-C levels as a prognostic factor for relapse-free and overall survival. We analyzed serum samples from 174 patients with early breast cancer who underwent sentinel lymph node biopsies. VEGF-C levels were determined using an ELISA. Serum VEGF-C levels were normally distributed, with a median value of 6561.5 pg/mL, and did not correlate with any other clinical or pathological variables. During a median follow-up period of 58 months, the five-year relapse-free survival rate was higher in patients with VEGF-C levels above the median than in patients with lower levels (95.3% vs. 85.9%, p < 0.04). No association was found between VEGF-C levels and overall survival. Our study demonstrates that the prognosis was better for early breast cancer patients with high serum VEGF-C levels.

Modeling and comparing data mining algorithms for prediction of recurrence of breast cancer

“…On the other hand, 207 million new cases of breast cancer are likely to be diagnosed in 2030, among which 60% cases are diagnosed in under-developed countries [ 4 , 14 , 15 ]. Moreover, the number of cancer incidence is increasing in these countries.…”

“…Cancer is a multifactorial disease and beside genetic factors, personal lifestyle, smoking, and diet play impressive effects in the etiology of cancer. There is always a balance among the amount of proliferation, the cell senescence, and the differentiation in a healthy organism, this balance is lost during cancer formation [12][13][14].…”

The Effect of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C and Adipose-Derived Stem Cells on Lymphatic Regeneration in a Rat Vascularized Lymph Node Transfer Model

“…These data still remain controversial. (27,28) More data are needed to elucidate the overall safety of potential growth factor therapy, alone or in combination with lymphedema microsurgery, to reach a consensus.…”

The Roles of Non-Coding RNAs in Tumor-Associated Lymphangiogenesis

“…In contrast, VEGF-D was found to regulate the enzyme that breaks down prostaglandin in endothelial cells, namely 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase (15-PGDH), resulting in the prolonged exposure of LECs in collecting lymphatics to prostaglandins and enlargement of the lymphatic vessels, hence allowing the dissemination of tumor cells [100,101]. The increased level of VEGF-C was found to have accelerated the growth of tumors in renal cell carcinoma [102],chondrosarcoma [103,104], breast [105][106][107], colon [108], lung [109], and skin cancer [110,111]. Of note, the prostaglandin-lymphangiogenesis induction is not specific to cancer, but also occurs in the inflammation setting.…”