No association of vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) and VEGF-C expression with survival in patients with gastric cancer.
OBJECTIVE
Although the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) superfamily has been identified to critically influence tumor-related angiogenesis, the prognostic significance of a VEGF expression in gastric cancer is still controversial. Accordingly, the present study analyzed the VEGF-A and VEGF-C expressions and their impact on the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer.


METHODS
Three hundred seventy-five consecutive patients who underwent surgical resection for gastric adenocarcinoma with a curative intent were enrolled in the present study. Immunohistochemical staining for VEGF-A and VEGF-C was performed using the formalin fixed, paraffin embedded tumor tissues.


RESULTS
Positive VEGF-A and VEGF-C expressions were observed in 337 (90.1%) and 278 (74.9%) cases, respectively. The survival analysis showed that the expression of VEGF-A and VEGF-C had no effect on the OS and DFS. On the multivariate analysis that included age, gender and the TNM stage, no significant association between the grade of the VEGF-A or VEGF-C expression and survival was observed.


CONCLUSIONS
The current study suggests that the tissue expression of VEGF-A or VEGF-C alone is not an independent prognostic marker for patients with surgically resected gastric adenocarcinoma.
Lee
Soo Jung
SJ
Department of Oncology/Hematology, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.
Kim
Jong Gwang
JG
Sohn
Sang Kyun
SK
Chae
Yee Soo
YS
Moon
Joon Ho
JH
Kim
Shi Nae
SN
Bae
Han-Ik
HI
Chung
Ho Young
HY
Yu
Wansik
W