title: Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and microvessel density in oral tumorigenesis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Significant increase in vascularity occurs during the transition from normal oral mucosa, through differing degrees of dysplasia, to invasive squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate microvessel density (MVD) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in oral tumorigenesis and correlate it with the clinicopathological characteristics.
  
  
  METHODS
  VEGF expression and MVD were quantified immunohistochemically using anti-VEGF and anti-CD34 antibody.
  
  
  METHODS
  For this study we used a total of 60 archival specimens, including 10 normal oral mucosa (NOM), 7 mild epithelial dysplasia (Mild ED), 8 moderate epithelial dysplasia (Mod ED), 5 severe epithelial dysplasia (SED), 14 well-differentiated SCC, 11 moderately-differentiated SCC, and 5 poorly-differentiated SCC. VEGF expression was assessed in relation to the localization, intensity, and area of the immunohistochemically stained cells. MVD was evaluated using the Image-Pro(®) Plus software.
  
  
  METHODS
  One-way ANOVA (F test) was carried out for comparing the parameters for multiple groups such as different histopathological grades of dysplasia and carcinoma. Comparison between groups was carried out using the Student's 't' test. Correlations between VEGF score and MVD were estimated using the Karl Pearson coefficient of correlation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  VEGF and MVD appeared to increase with disease progression and were statistically higher in oral SCC than in epithelial dysplasia and normal buccal mucosa. There was significant correlation between VEGF expression and MVD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings indicate that VEGF expression is upregulated during head and neck tumorigenesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Pacific Dental College and Hospital, PAHER University, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India.
authors.forename: Madhusudan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Astekar
authors.forename: Asha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Joshi
authors.forename: Gayathri
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ramesh
authors.forename: Rashmi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Metgud