Hepatocyte growth factor: A novel tumor marker for breast cancer

Context: The present study concentrates on the need for a novel tumor marker in breast carcinoma, which could be the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF). It is a fibroblast-derived growth factor which acts on cells of mainly epithelial origin, known for its mitogenic, motogenic, and morphogenic activities. Aims: The aim of this study is to correlate serum HGF levels with clinicopathological parameters of breast cancer. Subjects and Methods: Forty-four consecutive patients with breast cancer diagnosed on fine-needle aspiration cytology were prospectively included and evaluated. Venous blood samples were collected before the surgery. Sera were obtained by centrifugation and stored at -20 degrees C until assayed. The control group consisted of 38 healthy, age-matched participants. Serum concentrations of HGF were measured by the quantitative sandwich enzyme immunoassay technique and correlated with clinicopathological parameters of breast cancer. The Student's t-test was used to assess the significance of HGF in breast cancer, using SPSS statistics version 22. Results: The mean value of circulating HGF level in breast cancer patients was 527.05 +/- 214.72 pg/mL and that of control group was 297.61 +/- 149.2 pg/mL, and the difference was significant (P < 0.01). With univariate analysis, patients in postmenopause (P = 0.01), with poorly differentiated tumors (P < 0.001) and distant metastasis (P < 0.01), were shown to have significantly higher serum concentrations of HGF. Furthermore, it correlated significantly with mitotic figures (P < 0.01) and nuclear pleomorphism (P = 0.008). Conclusions: Preoperative serum HGF is a promising tumor marker of breast cancer that could predict the prognosis of breast cancer.