Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression correlates with p53 and ki-67 expressions in tongue squamous cell carcinoma.
BACKGROUND
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays an important role in angiogenesis, which is associated with tumor progression or metastasis.


METHODS
Immunohistochemical analysis was performed in 109 patients with tongue squamous cell carcinoma. Cox's proportional hazards regression analysis was used to identify the multivariate predictive value of the prognostic factors.


RESULTS
High VEGF expression was found in 69 patients (63%) and low VEGF expression in 40 patients (37%). VEGF overexpression correlated with Ki-67 and p53 overexpressions (p=0.0034 and 0.0065, respectively). High VEGF expression was significantly associated with advanced stage (stage III and IV)(p=0.048). The 5-year relapse-free survival (RFS) rate of patients with high VEGF expression (20%) was significantly lower than that of patients with low VEGF expression (76%) (p<0.0001). Multivariate analysis revealed that VEGF expression and stage grouping were independent predictors for RFS (p<0.0001 and 0.04, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
VEGF expression plays an important role in tumorprogression.
Mineta
Hiroyuki
H
Department of Otolaryngology, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Japan. mineta@hama-med.ac.jp
Miura
Katsutoshi
K
Ogino
Tetsufumi
T
Takebayashi
Satoru
S
Misawa
Kiyoshi
K
Ueda
Yoh
Y
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D016228:Endothelial Growth Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D008222:Lymphokines / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D014062:Tongue Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D042442:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors
D016228:Endothelial Growth Factors; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen; D008222:Lymphokines; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D042442:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors