bjective To investigate the correlation between expression of vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) of serum and tumor tissues and the clinical prognosis in patients with breast cancer. Methods The expressions of VEGF level of serum and tumor tissues in 44 patients with invasive duct breast cancer, 13 with benign breast diseases and 40 healthy controls. Serum VEGF level was measured by ELISA method. The protein expression of tissue VEGF, ER and C-erbB-2 were evaluated by immunohistochemistry LSAB method. Results Serum VEGF level and tissue VEGF expression in breast cancer were higher than those in benign breast diseases （P＜0.001）, and there was no significance in benign breast diseases and healthy controls （Pgt;0.05）. VEGF expression was correlated with lymph node metastasis (P＜0.01), ER and C-erbB-2 expression (P＜0.05, P＜0.01) and clinical stage （P＜0.01）. There were no statistical correlation between VEGF expression and age, tumor size (Pgt;0.05). Conclusion There is positively correlation between serum VEGF level and tissue VEGF expression, and between VEGF expression and clinic prognosis. Serum VEGF level may be one of important index of prognosis estimation in patients with breast cancer.
