The role of VEGF levels in the differentiation between malignant and benign breast tumor

Abstract

Globally, more than 1,500,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer annually which is considered as a big health challenge with the highest priority for investigation. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is considered as promising tumor markers due to its role in the progression of cancer. To determine the role of VEGF in the differentiation between the females with breast cancer and those with benign tumor in a sample of Iraqi Females from Baghdad/Iraq. A comparison study was done on 60 female patients with breast cancer and 60 female patients with benign breast tumor who were recruited from Al Imamain Al-Kadhemain Medical City, Baghdad, Iraq between May 2022 and December 2022. Samples were collected from subjects and used to determine the levels of VEGF, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and Cancer antigen 15-3 (CA 15-3) and compare their levels in both studied groups. There were highly significant increases in VEGF levels in patients with malignant breast tumor in comparison with patients with benign breast tumor. VEGF levels showed to be significantly correlated with CA 15-3 levels and provide better sensitivity and specificity when used in combination with CEA and CA 15-3. VEGF showed to be more significant biomarkers in differentiation between benign and malignant tumor with higher sensitivity and specificity when compared with classical breast tumor markers (CEA and CA15-3) and the combination between these markers showed to be a promised diagnostic panel for the differentiating of benign breast tumor from malignant one.