Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor in primary superficial bladder cancer.
BACKGROUND
Angiogenesis is of vital importance during the development and progression of solid tumors. This study was performed to test the clinical significance of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in primary superficial bladder cancer.


METHODS
A cohort of 185 cases of pTa/pT1 transitional cell bladder cancer and six cases of normal urothelium were studied by immunohistochemistry. Expression of VEGF was correlated with biological indicators of bladder cancer and examined for their prognostic value.


RESULTS
Variable amounts of VEGF were detected in 35 cases (18.9%), with 17.9% and 20.3% in pTa and pT1 tumors respectively. There was a positive association of VEGF expression with histological grading (p = 0.03). Otherwise, no apparent correlation was observed with remaining biopathological indicators (p > 0.1, respectively). Risk factors in predicting tumor recurrence were multiple tumors at diagnosis and lamina propria invasion (p < 0.05, respectively). Patients with multiple tumors also had a lower survival rate than those with a solitary tumor (p = 0.0008). However, expression of VEGF was not correlated with risk of tumor recurrence or patient survival (p > 0.1).


CONCLUSIONS
Expression of VEGF is one of the characteristics of tumor dedifferentiation and may play a role in the development of a subset of superficial bladder cancer. Evaluation of VEGF expression dose not provide independent prognostic information for patients with superficial bladder cancer.
Chow
N H
NH
Department of Pathology, Medical College, Taiwan, ROC. chownh@mail.ncku.edu.tw
Liu
H S
HS
Chan
S H
SH
Cheng
H L
HL
Tzai
T S
TS
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D018450:Disease Progression; D016228:Endothelial Growth Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008222:Lymphokines / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012008:Recurrence; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D001743:Urinary Bladder / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D042442:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors
D016228:Endothelial Growth Factors; D008222:Lymphokines; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D042442:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors