Angiogenesis in breast cancer: comparison between three vascular endothelial markers.

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Abstract Abstract #1037 Background: Controversial results have been reported on the three vascular endothelial markers most commonly evaluated in breast carcinomas. The objective of this study was to evaluate the quantification of angiogenesis by comparing the performance of anti-Factor VIII related antigen, anti-CD31 and anti-CD34 monoclonal antibodies to assess microvessel density in breast cancer. Methods: Twenty-three postmenopausal women diagnosed with stage II breast cancer and submitted to mastectomy or segmentectomy were evaluated. The monoclonal antibodies used were anti-Factor VIII, anti-CD31 and anti-CD34. Microvessels were counted in the areas of highest microvessel density using a magnification of 200x in 10 random fields. Microvessel density was defined as the mean number of microvessels counted in 10 fields. The data were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric test (p<0.05). Results: Mean microvessel densities with anti-Factor VIII, anti-CD31 and anti-CD34 were 4.16, 4.09 and 6.59, respectively. Microvessel density as detected by anti-CD34 was significantly greater than that detected by anti-CD31 or anti-factor VIII (p<0.0001). There was no statistically significant difference between microvessel density detected by anti-CD31 and anti-Factor VIII (p=0.4889) (see Table 1 and Figure 1).
 
 [figure1]Discussion: In the present study, despite the current controversies, a higher density of microvessels and a greater intensity of staining were found when anti-CD34 was used in comparison with anti-CD31 and anti-Factor VIII related antigen in paraffin-fixed samples of infiltrating ductal breast carcinoma from postmenopausal women. These findings justify the increasing use of this monoclonal antibody in the study of angiogenesis, not only in breast cancer but also in other neoplasias. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(2 Suppl):Abstract nr 1037.