Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor in thoracic sarcomas.
BACKGROUND
A body of data indicates that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression by carcinomas is closely related to the prognosis of carcinomas. However, the relationship between VEGF expression and the prognosis of sarcomas is contradictory.


METHODS
Tissue from 27 cases of thoracic sarcoma was analyzed immunohistochemically for VEGF expression while tumor vascularity was quantified using an antibody directed against endothelial CD34. The relationship between VEGF expression and the prognosis of patients with sarcomas was then evaluated semiquantitatively.


RESULTS
The microvessel count in sarcomas with strong VEGF expression was significantly higher than that in sarcomas with absent or faint VEGF expression. The disease-free survival rates of sarcomas with strong VEGF expression were significantly lower than those of sarcomas with absent or faint VEGF expression. We found that strong VEGF expression impacted on the disease-free survival in multivariate analyses.


CONCLUSIONS
VEGF expression of thoracic sarcomas is directly related to angiogenesis and tumor vascularity, and our findings suggest that strong VEGF expression is an independent prognostic factor in patients with thoracic sarcomas.
Iyoda
A
A
Division of Pathology, Chiba University School of Medicine, Japan. iyoda@haibyo1.m.chiba-u.ac.jp
Hiroshima
K
K
Baba
M
M
Fujisawa
T
T
Yusa
T
T
Ohwada
H
H
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D016228:Endothelial Growth Factors / Q000032:analysis*; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008222:Lymphokines / Q000032:analysis*; D008297:Male; D008833:Microcirculation / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000473:pathology*; D011379:Prognosis; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000473:pathology; D013899:Thoracic Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply* / 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