title: Angiogenesis and survival in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome.
abstract: Angiogenesis has been implicated in the pathogenesis and prognosis of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). In this study, we investigated the relationship between microvessel density (MVD), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression, common morphological and clinical factors, and survival in patients with MDS. We examined the MVD of paraffin-embedded bone marrow sections from 70 MDS patients and 31 controls. VEGF expression was determined in 50 patients and 20 controls. The median MVD in MDS patients was significantly higher than that in controls (p = 0.025), whereas there was no difference in VEGF expression between MDS patients and controls. In univariate analysis, increased MVD was associated with a shorter survival time (p = 0.023). However, in multivariate analysis, MVD was not an independent predictor of survival. The VEGF expression did not influence survival in univariate analysis. Survival was independently influenced by platelet count (p = 0.0073), cytogenetic risk category (p = 0.022), and transfusion dependence (p = 0.0073). Neither MVD nor VEGF expression were predictors for progression to acute myeloid leukemia in univariate analysis. Progression to acute myeloid leukemia was independently influenced only by the cytogenetic risk category (p = 0.022). This study confirmed increased MVD in MDS. It does not support an independent prognostic role of angiogenesis in MDS.
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Hematology, Clinical Center of Vojvodina, Faculty of Medicine, Hajduk Veljkova 1-3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia. asavic@uns.ac.rs
authors.forename: Aleksandar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Savic
authors.forename: Vesna
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cemerikic-Martinovic
authors.forename: Sinisa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dovat
authors.forename: Nebojsa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rajic
authors.forename: Ivana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Urosevic
authors.forename: Borivoj
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sekulic
authors.forename: Vanja
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kvrgic
authors.forename: Stevan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Popovic
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008297:Male; D008833:Microcirculation; D008875:Middle Aged; D009190:Myelodysplastic Syndromes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: C467484:VEGFA protein, human; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A