Quantitation of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor and Interleukin-6 in Different Stages of Breast Cancer

Background: determination of the impact of angiogenesis on tumor development and progression is essential. this study aimed to determine the serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (vegf) and interleukin 6 (il-6) in breast carcinoma, and to correlate them with tumor size, lymph node involvement, and cancer stage. methods: under aseptic precautions 5 ml of venous blood was collected from 37 breast cancer patients and 20 healthy females after obtaining due consent and ethical committee clearance. serum levels of vegf and il-6 were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa). results: serum il-6 and vegf levels were both significantly greater in patients than controls (p = 0.001, p = 0.001, respectively). the serum il-6 and vegf levels also significantly correlated with tnm staging (p = 0.001, p = 0.001). serum il-6 and vegf positively correlated with each other (r² = 0.668, p = 0.01). serum il-6 and vegf levels did not correlate with tumor size (p = 0.45, p = 0.17) or lymph node metastasis (p = 0.95, p = 0.68). conclusions: serum il-6 and vegf were greater in breast cancer patients than controls. the levels increased with advanced tumor, nodes, metastasis (tnm) staging, thus correlating with the patients’ prognoses. serum il-6 and vegf levels can be used as diagnostic tools and prognostic factors in breast cancer.