Serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and endostatin levels were detected in 59 patients with breast cancer before surgery and at 3 weeks after surgery. Pre-operatively, their levels were significantly elevated and correlated with each other. Post-operatively, VEGF level decreased significantly and endostatin remained at a high level. Patients with both normalized VEGF and elevated endostatin following surgery had a lower risk of relapse than patients whose VEGF failed to normalize. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed a correlation between elevated VEGF level and short free-relapse survival. These findings suggest a new angiogenesis balance is formed in the patients after surgery and such a resultant balance may be beneficial for the prognosis of breast cancer, which deserves more extensive study.