Plasma levels and diagnostic utility of VEGF, MMP-2 and TIMP-2 in the diagnostics of breast cancer patients

OBJECTIVE: We investigated plasma levels and diagnostic utility of vascular endothelial growth factor VEGF, matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase-2 (TIMP-2) in comparison to cancer antigen 15-3 (CA 15-3). METHODS: Plasma levels of tested parameters were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) while CA 15-3 with chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay (CMIA). RESULTS: The plasma levels of VEGF, TIMP-2 showed significantly higher than CA 15-3 values of the diagnostic sensitivity, the predictive values of positive and negative test results (PPV, NPV) and the area under the receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) curve (AUC) in early stages of breast cancer (BC). The combined use of the tested parameters with CA 15-3 resulted in the increase in sensitivity, NPV and AUC, especially in the combination with VEGF (83%; 72%; 0.888) and TIMP-2 (83%; 72%; 0.894). The highest values were obtained for combination of all three parameters (93%; 85%; 0.923). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest the usefulness of the tested parameters in the diagnosis of BC, especially VEGF and TIMP-2 with CA 15-3 in early stages of BC, which could be a new diagnostic panel.