Tumor angiogenesis predicts clinical outcome of node-positive breast cancer patients treated with adjuvant hormone therapy or chemotherapy.

Abstract

Intratumoral microvessel density is an independent predictive indicator in node-positive breast cancer patients treated with either adjuvant chemotherapy or adjuvant hormone therapy. Assessment of tumor angiogenesis may therefore be useful in selection of those patients who are more likely to benefit from conventional adjuvant therapies (i.e., those with minimally vascularized tumors) from those with highly vascularized and more aggressive tumors, for whom novel forms of systemic therapy are advocated.