Relationship between VEGF, CA 15-3 and Ki-67 in Women with Early Stage Breast Cancer

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a critical role in angiogenesis. It may be a clinically useful indicator for diagnostic and prognostic evaluation in patients with several solid tumors, including ovarian cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, and gastric cancer. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between VEGF serum levels, serum tumor markers cancer antigen (CA) 15-3, and the antigen Ki-67 overexpression in patients with palpable early breast cancer (BC). Forty-two women (median age 53 years, range 37-68) with histologically confirmed pT1 pN0 BC were prospectively enrolled in the study. All patients underwent preoperative measurement of both VEGF and CA 15-3 by quantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent (ELISA) sandwich assay. Ki-67 immunochemistry using the MIB-1 antibody was performed on sections cut from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded specimens. The tumor size ranged from 11 to 20 mm (median 17 mm). MIB-1 rate, and CA 15-3 and VEGF serum levels (mean ± SD) were 31.6±26.5, 21.9±14.3 kU/L, and 224.5±72.6 pg/mL, respectively. As expected, both CA 15-3 (R=0.41, p=0.007) and MIB-1 (R=0.47, p=0.002) significantly correlated with the tumor size. A significant correlation between VEGF and tumor size (R=0.50, p=0.0007) was also found. There was no relationship between VEGF and age of the patients (R=0.18, p=0.25), CA 15-3 (R=0.25, p=0.11), and MIB-1 (R=0.29, p=0.062). In conclusion, according to the results of this preliminary study, VEGF, CA 15-3, and MIB-1 should be considered independent markers in patients with early stage BC.