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

• Published in: Pathophysiology (Amsterdam) 2022-09, Vol.29 (3), p.537-554
• Main Authors: Krasnikova, Varvara, Pospelova, Maria, Fionik, Olga, Alekseeva, Tatyana, Samochernykh, Konstantin, Ivanova, Nataliya, Trofimov, Nikita, Vavilova, Tatyana, Vasilieva, Elena, Makhanova, Albina, Tonyan, Samwel, Nikolaeva, Alexandra, Kayumova, Evgeniya, Shevtsov, Maxim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: breast cancer; breast cancer survivors; fibrosis molecules; post-mastectomy pain syndrome; TGF-β1; VEGFR2
• ISSN: 1873-149X; 0928-4680; 1873-149X
• DOI: 10.3390/pathophysiology29030042

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 < 0.001) and TIMP-2 (U = 637, p < 0.001) as compared to the group of healthy volunteers. The levels of VEGFR-2 in these groups were comparable (U = 1345, 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.