Expression of Hypoxia-inducible factor 1-α and Vascular endothelial growth factor-C in locally advanced breast cancer patients

• Autor(a) principal: Brito, Luiz Gustavo Oliveira
• Data de Publicação: 2011
• Outros Autores: Schiavon, Viviane Fernandes, Andrade, Jurandyr Moreira de, Tiezzi, Daniel Guimarães, Peria, Fernanda Maris, Marana, Heitor Ricardo Cosiski
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Clinics
• DOI: 10.1590/S1807-59322011000800002
• Texto Completo: https://www.revistas.usp.br/clinics/article/view/19252
• topic: Locally advanced breast cancer; HIF-1α VEGF; Axillary lymph nodes; Immunohistochemistry

BACKGROUND: Locally advanced breast cancers are more prevalent in underdeveloped countries. Targeted therapy has been improved to identify hallmarks that are specific to these subtypes of tumors. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to prospectively assess the expression of Hypoxia inducible factor-1 α and vascular endothelial growth factor-C in locally advanced breast cancer patients. METHODS: Thirty women underwent incisional biopsies for the histopathological diagnosis of breast carcinoma and participated in neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The association of Hypoxia inducible factor-1 α and vascular endothelial growth factor-C with age, tumor size, histological grade, clinical staging, hormonal and axillary status, clinical and pathological response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors, and the presence of c-erbB-2 antigen was studied. RESULTS: Hypoxia inducible factor-1 α expression and Vascular endothelial growth factor-C expression were observed in 66.7% and 63.3% of all patients, respectively, and were marginally associated with each other (p = 0.06). Among the studied variables, only positive axillary status was associated with the presence of HIF-1α (p = 0.02). Complete pathological response was significantly associated (p = 0.04) with the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor-C prior to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: We concluded that Hypoxia inducible factor-1 α was associated with a poor prognosis and that vascular endothelial growth factor-C could be used as a predictive factor in locally advanced breast cancer patients with complete pathological response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy.