The New England journal of medicine
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Experimental evidence suggests that the growth of a tumor beyond a certain size requires angiogenesis, which may also permit metastasis. To investigate how tumor angiogenesis correlates with metastases in breast carcinoma, we counted microvessels (capillaries and venules) and graded the density of microvessels within the initial invasive carcinomas of 49 patients (30 with metastases and 19 without). ⋯ The number of microvessels per 200x field in the areas of most intensive neovascularization in an invasive breast carcinoma may be an independent predictor of metastatic disease either in axillary lymph nodes or at distant sites (or both). Assessment of tumor angiogenesis may therefore prove valuable in selecting patients with early breast carcinoma for aggressive therapy.