The prognostic and predictive value of mRNA expression of vascular endothelial growth factor family members in breast cancer: a study in primary tumors of high-risk early breast cancer patients participating in a randomized Hellenic Cooperative Oncology Group trial

Table 4 Multivariate analysis for prognostic significance: parameters in the final Cox model.

Overall survival	HR	95% CI	Wald's P
Histological grade
III-IV versus I-II	1.94	1.21-3.11	0.006
Number of positive nodes
≥4 versus 0 to 3	2.58	1.32-5.02	0.005
Adjuvant HT
No versus Yes	2.86	1.56-5.26	0.001
VEGF-B
Continuous mRNA values	0.82	0.69-0.97	0.019
VEGF-C/Treatment group Interaction	3.84	1.24-11.84	0.019
Treatment group
E-CMF versus E-T-CMF for VEGF-C low	0.96	0.54-1.70	0.885
E-CMF versus E-T-CMF for VEGF-C high	3.68	1.38-9.80	0.009
VEGF-C
High versus Low for E-T-CMF	0.74	0.28-1.96	0.547
High versus Low for E-CMF	2.85	1.55-5.22	<0.001
Disease-free survival	HR	95% CI	Wald's P
Histological grade
III-IV versus I-II	1.83	1.24-2.71	0.002
Number of positive nodes
≥4 versus 0 to 3	2.80	1.58-4.95	<0.001
Adjuvant HT
No versus Yes	2.16	1.22-3.84	0.008
VEGF-B
Continuous mRNA values	0.86	0.72-1.02	0.084
VEGFR1
High versus Low	1.58	0.98-2.55	0.060
VEGF-C/Treatment group Interaction	2.56	1.04-6.31	0.041
Treatment group
E-CMF versus E-T-CMF for VEGF-C low	0.95	0.60-1.52	0.846
E-CMF versus E-T-CMF for VEGF-C high	2.44	1.12-5.31	0.057
VEGF-C
High versus Low for E-T-CMF	0.68	0.31-1.48	0.327
High versus Low for E-CMF	1.73	0.98-3.08	0.166

CI, confidence interval; CMF, cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, fluorouracil; HR, hazard ratio; HT, hormonal therapy; VEGF, vascular endothelial growth factor.

ISSN: 1465-542X