Tumour angiogenesis and C-myc expression in breast carcinomas

Angiogenesis in tumors has been widely studied and has been considered to be a prognostic factor particularly in breast carcinomas. The myc family of proto oncogenes has shown an amplification in breast carcinomas. The aim of this study was to assess MVD (micro vessel density) and the expression of c-myc in invasive breast carcinomas. Formalin fixed, routinely processed, paraffin embedded tissue was stained with H&E for classification and grading according to the Nottingham modification of Bloom and Richardson criteria. Immunohistochemical staining using primary antibody against F VIII antigen and anti C-myc were carried out. LSAB method was employed with AEC as chromogen and Gill's Haematoxylin as counter stain. Micro vessels were counted and positivity indicated by a cherry red staining in the cytoplasm of the tumour cells. Grades I, II and III showed 12.22 %, 20.9% and 24.5 % positivity of micro vessel density (MVD). Fifty percent of Grade 1, 69.2 % of Grade II and 24.5 % of Grade III tumours expressed c-myc proteins. In our study we found a positive association between tumour grade and micro vessel density, signifying a poor prognosis for tumours with high MVD. C-myc expression also showed a positive association with increasing grade.