Differential levels of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1)in early breast cancer and benign breast lesions

To date, no soluble markers can discriminate benign from malignant breast l esion; therefore, to assess the diagnostic potential of circulating interce llular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), serum concentrations of sICAM-1 were quantitated in 230 consecutive patients that underwent surgery for breast n eoplasias, utilizing an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Histological dia gnosis revealed that 177 patients had breast cancer and 53 had a benign bre ast disease. In the cancer patient group, 90 subjects had pTl tumors withou t (pT1N0M0, n = 46) or with (pT1N1M0, n = 41; pT1N2M0, n = 3) regional lymp h node metastases. Mean levels of serum sICAM-1 of patients with pT1 breast cancer, without or with regional lymph node involvement, were significantl y (P < 0.05) higher than those of patients with benign breast lesions and o f 49 age-matched control subjects. Elevated levels of serum sICAM-1 were de tected in 27/90 (30%) pTl breast tumors and in 1/53 (2%) benign breast lesi ons; thus, among subjects with high levels of sICAM-1, 96% had breast cance r. No significant correlation was found between levels of serum sICAM-1 and breast cancer progression. These observations, altogether, suggest that in the presence of a suspicious breast neoplasm the quantitative analysis of serum sICAM-1 can orient clinical diagnosis towards malignancy.