[Expression and clinical significance of VEGF and its receptors Flt-1 and KDR in nasopharyngeal carcinoma].
OBJECTIVE
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptors fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (Flt-1) and kinase insert domain containing receptor (KDR) play critical roles in angiogenesis and tumor progression. This study was to explore the correlations of VEGF, Flt-1 and KDR expression to clinical features and prognosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients.


METHODS
Immunohistochemistry was adopted to detect the expression of VEGF, Flt-1, and KDR in 127 specimens of NPC. SPSS statistical software was used to analyze their correlations to clinical features and prognosis of NPC patients.


RESULTS
The positive rates of VEGF,Flt-1,and KDR were 66.9%, 90.6%, and 88.2% in the NPC specimens. The expression of VEGF was positively related to the expression of Flt-1 and KDR (r=0.292, P<0.01; r=0.287, P<0.01). The expression of Flt-1 was positively related to the expression of KDR (r=0.723, P<0.01). VEGF expression was related to primary tumor site, lymph node metastasis, and clinical stage (P=0.04, P<0.01, P=0.02, respectively); KDR expression was related to primary tumor site (P=0.03); all of them were related to local recurrence and/or distal metastasis (P<0.01, P<0.01, P=0.01, respectively), and poor overall survival (P<0.01, P=0.01, P=0.03, respectively). Cox multivariate analysis showed age of more than 50 years and positive VEGF expression were independent prognostic factors (P<0.01, P<0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
VEGF, Flt-1, and KDR are widely expressed in NPC tissues, and are positively related to clinical features and prognosis of NPC patients.
Sha
Dan
D
State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510060, P. R. China.
He
You-Jian
YJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000556:secondary; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000556:secondary; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D015996:Survival Rate; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000378:metabolism*; D040281:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D040301:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2 / Q000378:metabolism*
D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D040281:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1; D040301:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2