Abstract: Objective To explore the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor（VEGF） and microvessel density（MVD）in pri-mary triple-negative breast cancer and non-triple-negative breast cancer. Methods Tissue samples from 21 patients with primary triple-negative breast cancer and 68 with primary non-triple-negative breast cancer who underwent radical surgery in our hospital between January and December 2007 were examined by immunohistochemistry to detect VEGF expression and MVD（evaluated by CD34）.Possible correlations of breast cancer type with VEGF expression or MVD were explored， as were correlations between VEGF expression and MVD. Results VEGF expression was significantly higher in triple-negative breast cancer（71.43%） than in non-triple-negative breast cancer（25.00%，P<0.001），but MVD was similar between the two types （P=0.105）. Conclusions VEGF expression correlates with tumor angiogenesis and progression in triple-negative breast cancer，and this correlation deserves further study.

Key words:  Breast neoplasms, Triple-negative breast cancer, Angiogenesis, Vascular endothelial growth factor, Microvessel density