MENSTRUAL STATE SHOULD BE CONSIDERED IN DETERMINING SERO-POSITIVITY OF SOLUBLE ANGIOGENIC FACTORS IN BREAST-CANCER

We investigated whether blood angiogenic factor (vascular endothelial growth factor, VEGF; angiogenin; basic fibroblast growth factor, bFGF; platelet-derived growth factor-AB, PDGF-AB) levels change during mens trual cycle of healthy premenopausal females or after menopause. We al so measured the serum angiogenic factor levels in 34 operable breast c ancer patients and compared them to those of healthy volunteer control s. No differences in the four angiogenic factor levels were found betw een the follicular and luteal phases of normal menstruation. However, angiogenin and bFGF levels were higher in pre-menopausal females than post-menopausal female and young male healthy volunteers. In cancer pa tients, the sere-positivity rate of the bFGF was 8.8% with menstrual-s tate-unmatched cut-off paints, which increased to 36.4% with menstrual -state-matched cut-off points. This discrepancy was especially high in post-menopausal cancer patients. In conclusion, physiological elevati on of the bFGF during normal menstruation can influence the precise in terpretation of the pathological elevation of the bFGF in pre-menopaus al breast cancer patients.