Cell proliferation and vascularization in human breast carcinomas

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Abstract
Cell proliferation and vascularization were studied in 10 human breast carcinomas by an immunoenzyme technique. The monoclonal antibody (MAb) Ki‐67 was used as a marker for proliferating cells and a polyclonal antibody directed against human von‐Willebrand factor to identify blood vessels. The proportion of Ki‐67‐labelled cells varied from 1% to 20%, the number of small blood vessels from 4.4/mm2 to 57.6/mm2. Within single histological sections of individual tumours the percentage of proliferating cells was not related to the number of small blood vessels. However, after evaluation of 5 sections of each tumour, the average values showed that tumours with high grade of vascularization had a higher percentage of Ki‐67‐positive cells than poorly vascularized samples. The influence of vascular density on cell proliferation was investigated in a selected area of one of the tumours (in 2‐dimensions) and with regard to the over‐ and underlying sections (in 3‐dimensions). After 2‐dimensional evaluation, distances from proliferating cells to the closest blood vessel between 10 and 390 μm were observed, and after 3‐dimensional evaluation none of the proliferating cells measured was located more than 130 μm away from the closest vessel.