Nerve growth factor (NGF), as the first found member of neurotrophin family, was a kind of poly-peptide growth factor, which can promote neuronal growth, survival and differentiation. Recent studies have found that NGF also influences the development of malignant tumors. There are two NGF receptors:the low-affinity NGF receptor (p75NTR) and the high-affinity receptor, tyrosine kinase A (TrkA). In addition to nerve nutrition, NGF also plays an im-portant role in the occurrence and development of tumors, including proliferation, apoptosis, invasion, metastasis, angio-genesis and neurogenesis in breast cancer. The roles of NGF and its receptors in breast cancer has been paid much more attention in recent years, due to their ability of distinguishing recurrent or metastatic breast cancer, evaluating prognosis, and serving as a new targets for diagnosis and treatment. In this paper, the feasibility of NGF and its receptors as molecu-lar markers of breast malignant tumor were reviewed.%神经生长因子(NGF)为最早发现的神经营养素家族成员，是一种多肽生长因子，主要作用在于促进神经元生长、存活和分化。近年来研究发现，NGF还影响着恶性肿瘤的发生发展。NGF可与低亲和力膜受体p75NTR和高亲和力酪氨酸蛋白激酶受体TrKA结合，除具有神经营养作用外，在恶性肿瘤的发生、发展中也发挥重要作用，包括肿瘤的增殖、凋亡、转移、血管、神经新生等。NGF及其受体在乳腺癌中的作用逐渐被关注，对区分易复发或转移乳腺癌，帮助判断预后情况有重要作用，可为恶性肿瘤的诊断、治疗提供新的切入点及靶标。本文就NGF及其受体作为乳腺恶性肿瘤分子标记物的可行性进行综述。
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