title: Vascular endothelial growth factor and ki-67 antigen expression in relation to age and gender in oral squamous cell carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and Ki-67 antigen are contributing factors in this process cell proliferation and new blood vessels formation in tumor progression. This study was conducted to examine the relationship between the expression of VEGF and Ki-67 and gender and age of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-three archival samples of well-differentiated OSCC were examined immunohisto-chemically and assessed by obtaining Total Score (TS = proportion score × staining index). For statistical analysis, t-test and Pearson's correlation were employed. P≤0.05 was considered statistically significant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The differences in VEGF expression between males and females (P = 0.43) and different ages (P = 0.88) were not significant. The differences in Ki-67 expression was between males and females (P = 0.67) and different ages (P = 0.88) were also not significant. A positive correlation of VEGF and Ki-67 expression was observed in males and females in addi-tion to ≤ 60 years age group (r = 0.22, r = 0.008, and r = 0.58, respectively; P < 0.05). The expression of VEGF had a nega-tive relation to Ki-67 in > 60 years group (r = -0.48, P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The expression of VEGF and Ki-67 between males and females and different ages were not significant among oral squamous cell carcinoma cases evaluated.
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Faculty of Dentistry, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Noushin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jalayer Naderi
authors.forename: Farrokh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tirgari
authors.forename: Farzin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Esmaili
authors.forename: Faranak
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Paktinat
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Keshavarz