Serum levels of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and E-selectin in metastatic breast carcinoma: correlations with clinicopathological features and prognosis

Cellular adhesion molecules have been demonstrated to play an important role in the progression and metastasis of malignancies. We determined the serum concentrations of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and E-selectin (sE-selectin) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 49 Japanese patients with metastatic breast cancer. Significantly high concentrations of sICAM-1 and sE-selectin were found in the patients with liver and/or bone metastases (both P<0.05). The mean serum sICAM-1 levels were significantly higher in patients with two or more metastatic sites compared to those with one metastatic site (P=0.001). A significant correlation was found between serum sICAM-1 (P=0.0001) and sE-selectin (P<0.0001) and the interleukin (IL)-6 levels. The patients who did not respond to chemo/endocrine therapy showed significantly higher sICAM-1 and sE-selectin levels compared with those who responded to therapy (P=0.0004, P=0.02, respectively). Moreover, high sICAM-1 levels predicted a significantly poorer overall survival in both univariate and multivariate analyses. Our results suggest that the shedding of sICAM-1 or sE-selectin may enhance the metastatic process by escaping from host immune surveillance. The serum sICAM-1 level may help to predict the patient response to chemo/endocrine therapy and may be of prognostic significance in metastatic breast cancer patients.