TUMOR VASCULARITY AND BASEMENT-MEMBRANE STRUCTURE IN BREAST-CANCER ASRELATED TO TUMOR HISTOLOGY AND PROGNOSIS

A series of 202 breast cancer biopsy specimens were analysed immunohis tochemically for collagen IV to demonstrate basement membrane (BM) str uctures and blood vessels within tumour tissue. Integrity of the BM wa s graded into four categories and the number of vascular channels per square millimetre of tumour tissue were counted. Defective BM structur es were significantly related to high grade, lack of tubule formation, invasive disease, high S-phase fraction and variability in nuclear si ze and shape. High vascular channel density was related to poor tumour differentiation and a high proliferation rate of cancer cells as well as to the absence of tubule formation, inconspicuous intraductal grow th and low progesterone receptor content. High vascular density and de fective BM structures were signs of poor prognosis and short recurrenc e-free survival in the entire cohort and also in local tumours. In mul tivariate analysis, the vascular density had independent prognostic va lue, as did the diameter, axillary lymph node status and mitotic rate. The counting of vascular channels within the tumour provides addition al prognostic information in breast cancer, in contrast to analysis of the BM integrity which shows hardly any prognostic information additi onal to that provided by the special histological features, e.g. tubul e formation and intraductal growth pattern.