Clinical significance of TGF alpha, TGF beta1 and VEGF in sera of Egyptian patients with breast cancer

ABSTRACT

Breast cancer [BC] is the most prevalent cancer among women and affects approximately one million women worldwide each year and it is the most prevalent cancer among Egyptian women and constitutes 29% of National Cancer Institute cases. This study was designed to determine the crucial role of TGF-alpha, TGF-beta1and VEGF in patients with Breast carcinoma. Serum level of TGF-alpha, TGF-beta1 and VEGF were determined by ELISA in 51 patients with preoperative and postoperative primary [BC], as well as 30 healthy female persons. This study showed that the TGF-alpha, TGF-beta1 and VEGF levels were significantly high [p = 0.001] in patients with primary breast cancer compared to control healthy female group. Meanwhile the levels of these growth factors did show significant decrease after treatment. This study revealed that serum levels of TGF-alpha, TGF-beta1 and VEGF in patients with breast cancer could be useful biomarkers for prognosis of such type of malignancy