Microvessel quantitation in intraductal and early invasive breast carcinomas

Objective: To study the angiogenic process in intraductal carcinoma of the breast, with and without a small focus of stromal infiltration, and to comp are the microvessel density between the in situ phase and the early infiltr ation phases of breast cancer. STUDY DESIGN: Microvessel density (number of microvesssels per square milli meter of neoplasia) was quantitatively evaluated on anti-factor VIII-immuno stained histologic sections obtained from 10 ductal carcinomas in situ (DCI S) (category B), 10 microinvasive carcinomas (category C), 12 T1a carcinoma s (category D) and 20 T1b carcinomas (category E). RESULTS: The five categories of lesion had different values for microvessel s density (P = .0017). Category A had microvessel density lower than catego ry B (P = .0005). Category B had microvessel density higher than categories C, D and E (P = .0028, .0133 and .0033, respectively). CONCLUSION: Microvessel density seems to be a feature related to each cruci al step in the early phases of neoplastic progression.