Background: Prognostic factors significantly influence further therapeutic measures: ‘low-risk’ patients should be spared large-scale therapy, whereas ‘high-risk’ patients might probably benefit from more intensive therapy. The parameter ‘vessel invasion’ was to be compared with other prognostic factors and tested with regard to its clinical applicability. Patients and Methods: Breast cancer tissue sections were examined with regard to their prognostic importance for disease-free survival in 64 patients with primary breast cancer. Immunocytochemical staining for factor-VIII-related antigen was used to outline vascular endothelium. Results: In 19 cases (29.6%) vessel invasion could be detected. The 5-year disease-free survival rate was 13.8% in the cases with vessel invasion and 75.1% in those cases without vessel invasion (p = 0.0001). A Cox proportional hazards model identified vessel invasion as independent prognostic factor for recurrence-free survival in breast cancer (relative risk = 3.74; p = 0.0023). The recurrence rate within the first 24 months after surgery was 57% for the cases with and 9% for the cases without vessel invasion, respectively. Out of 32 lymph node negative patients we found vessel invasion in 5 patients, out of whom 4 developed recurrence. Conclusion: We therefore conclude that vessel invasion in primary tumours of breast cancer patients might possibly identify a high-risk group for early tumour recurrence.

Keywords:
Breast cancer, Prognosis, Early recurrence, Vessel invasion
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© 1993 S. Karger AG, Basel
1993
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