title: Upregulation of vascular endothelial growth factor mRNA level is significantly related to progression and prognosis of oral squamous cell carcinomas.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent angiogenic factor. This study evaluated whether the VEGF mRNA level in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) tissue could be a biomarker to predict the progression and prognosis of OSCCs in Taiwan.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study used quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (quantitative RT-PCR) to detect the VEGF mRNA levels in 60 OSCC specimens. Threshold cycle (CT) was defined as the PCR cycle number needed to generate a predetermined amount of DNA (threshold). The relative amount of tissue VEGF mRNA, standardized against the amount of glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) mRNA, was expressed as ΔCT = (VEGF CT - GAPDH CT). For a chosen threshold, a smaller starting copy number of mRNA results in a higher CT value. Thus, the lower the ΔCT, the greater the copy number of VEGF mRNA in tissues.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The lower mean VEGF mRNA ΔCT value was significantly associated with OSCCs with larger tumor size (p = 0.040), positive lymph node metastasis (p = 0.023), and more advanced clinical stages (p = 0.008). VEGF mRNA ΔCT value < 4.2 (p = 0.026) was identified as an independent unfavorable prognosis factor using multivariate regression analyses. Moreover, Kaplan-Meier curve showed that OSCC patients with a VEGF mRNA ΔCT value < 4.2 had a significantly poorer overall survival than those with a VEGF mRNA ΔCT value ≥4.2 (log-rank test, p = 0.0427).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The OSCC tissue VEGF mRNA level can be used to predict the progression and prognosis of OSCCs in Taiwan.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Clinical Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Deparment of Dentistry, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital, Hsin-Chu Branch, Hsin-Chu, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hui-Hsin
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.affiliation: Deparment of Dentistry, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Jang-Jaer
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Clinical Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Deparment of Dentistry, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsin-Ming
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Deparment of Dentistry, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Sang-Heng
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kok
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Clinical Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Deparment of Dentistry, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yen-Ping Kuo
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Clinical Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Deparment of Dentistry, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: sjcheng56@ntu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Shih-Jung
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Clinical Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Deparment of Dentistry, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Oral Biology, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: cpchiang@ntu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Chun-Pin
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Chiang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013624:Taiwan; D015854:Up-Regulation; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C467484:VEGFA protein, human; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A
keywords: cancer progression; oral cancer; prognosis; survival; vascular endothelial growth factor