title: Prognostic significance of immunohistochemical expression of the angiogenic molecules vascular endothelial growth factor-A, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 in patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma.
abstract: Angiogenesis leads to new blood vessel formation and is implicated in both physiological and pathological situations. The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family is the major mediator of this process. The aim of our study was to evaluate the expression of VEGF-A, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 (VEGFR-1) and VEGFR-2 and their correlation with clinicopathological parameters and prognosis in patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL), since the role of angiogenesis in this tumor still remains unclear. The immunohistochemical expression of VEGF-A, VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2 was examined in 194 patients with cHL. The neoplastic Hodgkin Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells expressed VEGF-A, VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2 in 90.3%, 97.2% and 94.1% of cases, respectively. Only the expression of VEGFR-2 was positively correlated with serum albumin levels ≥ 4 g/dL. No correlation with patient outcome was observed. All three molecules were statistically correlated with ramifications of blood vessels. Summarizing, our results are not sufficient to consider VEGF-A and/or VEGF receptors as prognosticators in cHL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Histology and Embryology.
authors.forename: Georgios S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Dimtsas
authors.forename: Eleni C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Georgiadi
authors.forename: Petros
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Karakitsos
authors.forename: Theodoros P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Vassilakopoulos
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Thymara
authors.forename: Penelope
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Korkolopoulou
authors.forename: Efstratios
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Patsouris
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kittas
authors.forename: Ipatia A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Doussis-Anagnostopoulou
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000378:metabolism; D011379:Prognosis; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000378:metabolism*; D040281:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D040301:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D040281:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1; D040301:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2