Prognosis of invasive breast cancer after adjuvant therapy evaluated with VEGF microvessel density and microvascular imaging

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of ultrasonographic microvascular imaging in the evaluation of prognosis of patients with invasive breast cancer treated by adjuvant therapies. A total of 121 patients with invasive breast cancer underwent ultrasonographic contrast-enhanced imaging, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) staining, and microvessel density (MVD) counts. The parameters of microvascular imaging and the expression of VEGF and MVD in primary breast cancer were calculated. The correlation between these factors and the overall and progression-free survival rate were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Among 121 cases, the positive VEGF cases were 75 and negative ones were 46. The cut point of 52.3 was calculated by the regressive curve for MVD counts. The data showed the mean intensity (MI) was positively associated with both the MVD counts (r = .51, p < .001) and VEGF expression (r = .35, p < .001). For the prognosis of patients, high VEGF expression and MVD counts were associated with reduced progressive and survival times (PFS, p = .032 and p = .034; OS, p = .041 and p = .038, respectively). The correlation between parameters of microvascular imaging, VEGF expressive status, and the MVD counts were established. The cut point of mean intensity (MI = 40) was used to investigate as an independent predictor for PFS (p = .021) and OS (p = .025), respectively, due to a strong correlation between MVD counts and VEGF expression in patients with invasive breast cancer. The microvascular imaging could be a visual and helpful tool to predict the prognosis of patients with invasive breast cancer treated by adjuvant therapies.