Vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, E-selectin and von Willebrand factor : role as surrogate markers of angiogenesis in breast cancer

Abstract EN

Angiogenesis, the development of new blood vessels from pre-existing vasculature, is a prerequisite for tumor growth and metastasis in breast cancer.

Surrogate markers for angiogenesis would be useful for studying the effectiveness of antiangiogenesis drugs.

We examined the potential of three glycoproteins: vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), endothelial selectin (E-Selectin), and von Willebrand factor (vWF), to serve as markers for angiogenesis.

Serum levels of VCAM-1, E-selectin and plasma vWF levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 54 women with different stages (1-IV) of breast cancer (12 women in stage I, 16 in stage II, 14 in stage HI and 12 in stage IV).

Their ages ranged from 25-70 years.

To investigate whether the concentration of these activated endothelial cell molecules are associated with breast cancer, the serum levels of soluble VCAM-l, E-selectin and plasma levels of vWF in women with breast cancer were compared with those of 22 healthy age-matched control women, we also examined whether levels of VCAM-1, E-selectin or vWF are associated with tumor progression and stage of breast cancer (early and advanced breast cancer).

The results revealed that levels of VCAM-1, E-selectin and vWF are elevated in breast cancer women, even in early stages when compared with control women.

Although plasma vWF and serum VCAM-1 levels were significantly elevated in advanced stages than early stages of breast cancer with a positive correlation with disease stage, E-selectin did not show a statistical difference, between different stages of breast cancer.

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Conclusion: vWF, which is released by all endothelial cells, would be a pan-endothelial marker that would not accurately report angiogenesis and Serum soluble VCAM-l can be considered as an accurate marker of tumor angiogenesis in breast cancer.