Objective: To investigate the expressions of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and nm23-H1 gene in breast cancer tissues and their relation to the prognosis in young women.
Methods: The expressions of VEGF and nm23-H1 gene were detected using immunohistochemical method (SP) in the breast cancer tissues of 48 young and 30 postmenopausal women with breast cancer and in breast fibroadenoma tissues of 10 patients for analysis of the association of the expressions with the patients' clinical and pathological characteristics, with also observation of the 5-year survival rate in each patient group.
Results: The rates of axillary lymph node metastasis was higher in the young women than in the postmenopausal women, who also had significantly different rates of VEGF and nm23-H1 expressions in the breast cancer tissues (P<0.01, P<0.01 and P<0.05, respectively); between the two breast cancer groups and breast fibroadenoma group, the expressions were also different (P<0.01). In both young and postmenopausal women with breast cancer, patients with axillary lymph node metastasis had significantly higher positivity rate of VEGF expression than those without (P<0.01 and P<0.01), but the reverse was found true in the expression of nm23-H1 gene. VEGF expression was inversely correlated with nm23-H1 expression in young patients (P<0.01), and the 5-year survival rate of patients with nm23-H1 gene expression was higher than that of p53-positive patients (P<0.05). No significant correlation of VEGF and nm23-H1 expressions with the differentiation of the tumor was found (P>0.05).
Conclusion: The expressions of VEGF and nm23-H1 indicate the angiogenetic activity and invasion of breast cancer, and have a close relation to the prognosis in young women.