Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor in salivary gland carcinomas and its relation to p53, Ki-67 and prognosis.
BACKGROUND
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has been demonstrated to play an important role in tumor angiogenesis and to influence prognosis in many cancers. But, its significance in salivary gland carcinomas has not been elucidated. The authors investigated the association between VEGF expression and clinicopathological factors, p53, and Ki-67 to verify its validity as a prognostic factor.


METHODS
Surgical specimens from 45 patients with salivary gland carcinoma were examined for VEGF, p53, and Ki-67 expression by immunohistochemical staining. The results were compared with the clinicopathological factors and the relationships were correlated.


RESULTS
VEGF expression was low in 14 cases, moderate in 15 cases, and high in 16 cases. It was significantly correlated with a variety of clinicopathological factors such as TNM stage, perineural and vascular invasion, and recurrence. VEGF showed significant association with the expression of p53 but not with that of Ki-67. Univariate analysis showed that age, gender, lymph node metastasis, vascular invasion, p53, Ki-67, and VEGF expression correlate with prognosis. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that VEGF is an independent prognostic factor for patients with salivary gland carcinomas.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study suggest that VEGF expression is correlated with p53 expression and that it may have prognostic value in salivary gland carcinomas.
Lim
Ji J
JJ
Department of Oral Pathology, College of Dentistry, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea. zjon@dreamwiz.com
Kang
Sungmin
S
Lee
Mi R
MR
Pai
Hyun K
HK
Yoon
Hye J
HJ
Lee
Jae I
JI
Hong
Sam P
SP
Lim
Chang Y
CY
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen / Q000032:analysis*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012468:Salivary Gland Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000032:analysis*; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000032:analysis*
D019394:Ki-67 Antigen; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A