Pathophysiology (Sep 2022)

Breast Cancer Treatment Decreases Serum Levels of TGF-β1, VEGFR2, and TIMP-2 Compared to Healthy Volunteers: Significance for Therapeutic Outcomes?

  • Varvara Krasnikova,
  • Maria Pospelova,
  • Olga Fionik,
  • Tatyana Alekseeva,
  • Konstantin Samochernykh,
  • Nataliya Ivanova,
  • Nikita Trofimov,
  • Tatyana Vavilova,
  • Elena Vasilieva,
  • Albina Makhanova,
  • Samwel Tonyan,
  • Alexandra Nikolaeva,
  • Evgeniya Kayumova,
  • Maxim Shevtsov

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/pathophysiology29030042
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 29, no. 3
pp. 537 – 554

Abstract

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Various complications from a breast cancer treatment, in the pathogenesis of which excessive tissue fibrosis plays a leading role, are a common pathology. In this study, the levels of TGF-β1, VEGFR-2, and TIMP-2 were determined by the immuno-enzyme serum analysis for patients during the long-term period after breast cancer treatment as potential markers of fibrosis. The single-center study enrolled 92 participants, which were divided into two age-matched groups: (1) 67 patients following breast cancer treatment, and (2) 25 healthy female volunteers. The intergroup analysis demonstrated that the patients after breast cancer treatment showed a decrease in the serum levels of TGF-β1 (U = 666, p p p = 0.082). It was also found that the type of treatment, the presence of lymphedema, shoulder joint contracture, and changes in lymphoscintigraphy did not affect the levels of TGF-β1, VEGFR-2, and TIMP-2 within the group of patients after breast cancer treatment. These results may indicate that these biomarkers do not play a leading role in the maintenance and progression of fibrosis in the long-term period after breast cancer treatment. The reduced levels of TGF-β1 and TIMP-2 may reflect endothelial dysfunction caused by the antitumor therapy.

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