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In situ detection of tissue factor in vascular endothelial cells: Correlation with the malignant phenotype of human breast disease

Nature Medicine volume 2, pages 209–215 (1996)Cite this article

Abstract

Expression of tissue factor (TF) in the endothelium has been observed only rarely in human disease and has been thought to be elaborated on the surface of vascular endothelial cells (VECs) in vitro as an artifact of tissue culture. Using monoclonal antibodies and a novel probe for functional TF, we have localized TF to the VECs (and tumor cells) within the tumors of seven patients with invasive breast cancer but not in the VECs (or tumor cells) of benign tumors from ten patients with fibrocystic disease of the breast. The potent procoagulant TF was shown to be a marker of the initiation of angiogenesis in human breast cancer. Further evidence that the TF was the demonstration of a similar distribution of cross–linked fibrin only in the VECs of the malignant tumors. We interpret these data as further support for the concept that tumor cells can activate nearby VECs and regulate blood vessel growth in vivo. Large clinicalpathologic studies will be necessary to determine whether TF is a useful marker for the “switch to the angiogenic phenotype” in human breast disease and/or correlates with the thromboembolic complications of breast cancer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Medicine, Surgery & Pathology, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, 263 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, Connecticut, 06032, USA

    Josephine Contrino, Gregory Hair, Donald L. Kreutzer & Frederick R. Rickles

  2. Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, 1327 Clifton Road, NE, Atlanta, Georgia, 30322, USA

    Gregory Hair

  3. National Center for Infectious Diseases (MS-D02), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, NE, Atlanta, Georgia, 30333, USA

    Gregory Hair & Frederick R. Rickles

  4. Veterans Administration Medical Center, Newington, Connecticut, 06111, USA

    Frederick R. Rickles

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Contrino, J., Hair, G., Kreutzer, D. et al. In situ detection of tissue factor in vascular endothelial cells: Correlation with the malignant phenotype of human breast disease. Nat Med 2, 209–215 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0296-209

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