Significantly higher levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and shorter survival times for patients with primary operable triple-negative breast cancer

Patients and methods: VEGF levels were determined by an enzyme immunosorbent assay in a retrospective series consisting of 679 consecutive primary breast cancer patients. Results: Eighty-seven patients (13%) were classified as TNBC and had significantly higher VEGF levels; median value in TNBC was 8.2 pg/mu g DNA compared with 2.7 pg/mu g DNA in non-TNBC (P < 0.001). Patients with TNBC had statistically significant shorter recurrence-free survival [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.8; P = 0.0023], breast cancer-corrected survival (HR = 2.2; P = 0.004) and overall survival (HR = 1.8; P = 0.005) compared with non-TNBC. Patients with TNBC relapsed earlier than non-TNBC; mean time from diagnosis to first relapse was 18.8 and 30.7 months, respectively. The time between first relapse and death was also shorter in TNBC: 7.5 months versus 17.5 months in non-TNBC (P = 0.087). Conclusions: Our results show that TNBC have higher i.t. VEGF levels compared with non-TNBC. Ongoing clinical trials will answer if therapy directed towards angiogenesis may be an alternative way to improve outcome in this poor prognosis group.