title: Tumor angiogenesis in 75 cases of pleomorphic carcinoma of the lung.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pleomorphic carcinoma (PC) of the lung is a rare tumor that usually has an aggressive clinical course and a poor prognosis. In this study, 75 cases of PC were reviewed to identify its clinical features, and we examined the expression of angiogenic factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  We immunohistochemically examined the expression of angiogenic factors in tissue specimens of PC.
  
  
  RESULTS
  66 males and 9 females were examined. The median survival time was 16.5 months. The stage and symptomatical diagnosis were significantly associated with the survival. In the immunohistochemical analyses, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was expressed in many cases of PC. A high score for angiogenesis was significantly related to a poorer prognosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude that PC should be considered an aggressive disease, and that the stage and symptomatical diagnosis are strong prognostic factors. Furthermore, tumor angiogenesis provides significant prognostic information about the clinical outcome in PC.
authors: Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology and Respiratory Medicine, Shimane University Faculty of Medicine, 89-1 Enya-cho, Izumo, Shimane, 693-8501 Japan.
authors: Yukari
authors: Y
authors: Tsubata
authors: Akihisa
authors: A
authors: Sutani
authors: Tamio
authors: T
authors: Okimoto
authors: Motoki
authors: M
authors: Matsuura
authors: Isao
authors: I
authors: Murakami
authors: Ryousuke
authors: R
authors: Usuda
authors: Tsuneo
authors: T
authors: Okumichi
authors: Sei-Ichi
authors: S
authors: Kakegawa
authors: Kenichi
authors: K
authors: Togashi
authors: Shinji
authors: S
authors: Kosaka
authors: Yoshinori
authors: Y
authors: Yamashita
authors: Koji
authors: K
authors: Kishimoto
authors: Takashige
authors: T
authors: Kuraki
authors: Takeshi
authors: T
authors: Isobe
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D016019:Survival Analysis