Levels of serum VEGF in early breast cancer and its association with bone marrow micrometastases

Objective:To explore the levels of serum VEGF in early breast cancer and its clinical significance as well as the relationship with bone marrow micrometastases in the patients.Methods: Levels of serum VEGF in 6 cases of breast fibroadenoma and 64 cases of breast cancer were detected by ELISA.Bone marrow CK19 mRNA was detected by qRT-PCR as an index of micrometastases in the patients as well.Correlation between serum VEGF level and bone marrow micrometastasis was analyzed.Results: Levels of serum VEGF in breast cancer were significantly higher compared with those in breast fibroadenoma(P=0.012).A subgroup analysis showed that in HER-2 positive patients,levels of serumVEGF were higher(P=0.016).CK19 mRNA was found in bone marrow of 24 cases of breast cancer and the positive rate was 37.5%.However,it was not detected in the patients with breast fibroadenoma.Mean level of serum VEGF in CK19 positive and negative patients was 110.46±90.65 pg/ml and 70.88±77.13pg/ml,respectively.There was a significant difference between the two groups(P=0.038).Conclusion: Levels of serum VEGF in early breast cancer was closely related with the bone marrow micrometastases.High level of serum VEGF may be a soluble biomarker for the early micrometastasis of breast cancer.