[Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family members and prognosis after hepatic resection in HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma].
OBJECTIVE
Human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a hypervascular tumor, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a key role in the regulation of tumor-associated angiogenesis. In this study, we analyzed the significance of the expression of VEGF family members on the prognosis and clinicopathologic progress of HCC.


METHODS
Surgically resected specimens of HCC and noncancerous liver tissue were obtained from 323 patients with HCC, and VEGF mRNA was examined by quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reactions (RT-PCRs). Patients who were seropositive for hepatitis B surface antigen were selected for the analysis (n=208). The VEGF(tumor)/GAPDH (glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase)(tumor)/VEGF(nontumor)/GAPDH(nontumor) ratio was calculated using a quantitative RT-PCR assay, and the relationships between the expressions of VEGF family members and clinicopathologic parameters were analyzed to evaluate their significance in the prognosis of HCC.


RESULTS
The disease-free survival was significantly worse in the high-VEGF-A group than in the low-VEGF-A group (P=0.035), whereas VEGF-A expression was not significantly related to overall survival (P=0.172). The factors significantly related to poor prognosis in univariate analysis were tumor size, portal vein invasion, microvascular thrombi, intrahepatic metastasis, tumor capsule invasion, liver capsule invasion, preoperative serum albumin level, and VEGF-A ratio. Multivariate analysis showed that a poor prognosis in HCC patients was significantly related to portal vein invasion (hazard ratio=3.381, P<0.001), intrahepatic metastasis (hazard ratio=2.379, P<0.001), tumor size (hazard ratio=1.834, P=0.003), and preoperative serum albumin level (hazard ratio=2.050, P=0.006).


CONCLUSIONS
Our study showed that the expression of VEGF-A is positively correlated with the recurrence rate of HCC after curative resection. Therefore, a high expression of VEGF-A might be predictive of HCC recurrence after curative resection.
Moon
Ju Ik
JI
Department of Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Kim
Jong Man
JM
Jung
Gum Oh
GO
Chun
Jae Min
JM
Choi
Gyu-Seong
GS
Park
Jae Berm
JB
Kwon
Choon Hyuck David
CH
Kim
Sung Joo
SJ
Jo
Jae Won
JW
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001483:Base Sequence; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery* / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000150:complications; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery* / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016019:Survival Analysis; D042442:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D042442:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors