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VEGF and metastasis in breast cancer

Microvessel counts correlate with metastatic disease23

Microvessel counts correlate with metastatic disease
In an analysis of 49 patients with invasive breast cancer, Weidner and colleagues showed that patients whose tumors had a higher microvessel density were more likely to have metastatic disease.23

Weidner N, Semple JP, Welch WR, Folkman J. N Engl J Med. 1991;324:1-8, Copyright © 1991 Massachusetts Medical Society.

In 1991, Judah Folkman, who pioneered research on angiogenesis in cancer, and his group at Harvard Medical School once again made headlines in the New England Journal of Medicine with a report titled "Tumor Angiogenesis and Metastasis—Correlation in Invasive Breast Carcinoma." In this analysis of 49 patients with invasive breast carcinoma (30 with metastases and 19 without), the authors concluded that microvessel count and density (observed in a microscopic field) were associated with metastatic disease in axillary lymph nodes or distant sites (or both).23

VEGF and metastases to bone

Expression of VEGF and its receptors by bone metastases24

Expression of VEGF and its receptors by bone metastases
In a 2005 study, Aldridge et al showed that VEGF may be involved in breast cancer metastases to bone. Here, staining of bone metastases with antibodies to VEGF (A), CD68 (B), and VEGFR-2 (C) shows localization of VEGF expression to tumor cells and some bone cells.24

Adapted by permission from Macmillan Publishers Ltd: Br J Cancer. 2005;92:1531-1537. © 2005.

When breast cancer metastasizes, the bones are one of the most common sites of metastasis. Bone metastases of breast cancer tend to be osteolytic. Osteoclasts—bone-resorbing cells that arise from a monocyte/macrophage cell lineage—are thought to be responsible for osteolysis.24

Since monocytes—precursors to osteoclasts—have been shown to express vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptors, a relationship between VEGF and breast cancer-derived bone metastases has been hypothesized. In a study of bone metastases from 17 breast cancer patients, Aldridge and colleagues found that VEGF stimulated differentiation of monocytes into osteoclast-like cells capable of resorbing bone. This research suggests that VEGF may be involved in breast cancer metastasis to bone.24

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VEGF and prognosis

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