Quantification of angiogenesis in estrogen receptor-positive and negative breast carcinoma

BACKGROUND The objective of this study was to evaluate angiogenesis according to CD34 antigen expression in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive and negative breast carcinomas. METHODS This study comprised 64 cases of infiltrating ductal carcinoma in postmenopausal women divided into two groups: Group A: ER-positive, n = 35; and Group B: ER-negative, n = 29. The anti-CD34 monoclonal antibody was used as a marker for endothelial cells. Microvessel count was carried out in 10 fields per slide using a 40x objective lens (magnification 400x). Statistical analysis of the data was performed using Student's t-test (p < 0.05). RESULTS The mean number of vessels stained with the anti-CD34 antibody in the estrogen receptor-positive and negative tumors was 23.51 +/- 1.15 and 40.24 +/- 0.42, respectively. The number of microvessels was significantly greater in the estrogen receptor-negative tumors (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION ER-negative tumors have significantly greater CD34 antigen expression compared to ER-positive tumors.