Elevated serum CA15-3 levels correlate with positive estrogen receptor and initial favorable outcome in patients who died from recurrent breast cancer.

Background: The clinical usefulness of circulating tumor markers in breast cancer as recurrence indicators during follow-up or monitoring treatment response is still an open question. There are some patients with normal tumor marker levels who have apparent recurrence foci. In this study, we evaluated the relationships between CEA or CA15-3 levels and clinicopathological factors or outcome in patients who had died from recurrent breast cancer.

Higher plasma vascular endothelial growth factor levels correlate with menopause, overexpression of p53, and recurrence of breast cancer.

Purpose: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an important factor involved in angiogenesis. Many studies have reported that the expression of VEGF in breast cancer is an unfavorable prognostic factor. However, there are few studies that have analyzed blood VEGF levels because most used serum VEGF, generally thought to originate from platelets.

An evaluation of predictive factors involved in clinical or pathological response to primary chemotherapy in advanced breast cancer.

Background: The usefulness of primary chemotherapy has been widely recognized and applied to routine clinical practice to improve prognosis by downstaging. Nevertheless, none of many trials has been able to show a positive effect of primary chemotherapy in terms of prognosis, and predictive factors of outcome have not been defined and are still under investigation.

Methods: Primary chemotherapy was given to 50 patients with advanced breast cancer.