title: Why some tumours trigger neovascularisation and others don't: the story thus far.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Angiogenesis is not essential for tumours to develop and expand, as cancer can also grow in a non-angiogenic fashion, but why this type of growth occurs is unknown. Surprisingly, our data from mRNA transcription profiling did not show any differences in the classical angiogenic pathways, but differences were observed in mitochondrial metabolic pathways, suggesting a key role for metabolic reprogramming. We then validated these results with mRNA profiling by investigating differential protein expression via immunohistochemistry in angiogenic and non-angiogenic non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs).
  
  
  METHODS
  Immunohistochemical staining for 35 angiogenesis- and hypoxia-related biomarkers were performed on a collection of 194 angiogenic and 73 non-angiogenic NSCLCs arranged on tissue microarrays. Sequencing of P53 was performed with frozen tissue samples of NSCLC.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The non-angiogenic tumours were distinguished from the angiogenic ones by having higher levels of proteins associated with ephrin pathways, mitochondria, cell biogenesis, and hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF1) regulation by oxygen and transcription of HIF-controlled genes but lower levels of proteins involved in the stroma, cell-cell signaling and adhesion, integrins, and Delta-Notch and epidermal growth factor (EGF)-related signaling. However, proteins classically associated with angiogenesis were present in both types of tumours at very comparable levels. Cytoplasmic expression of P53 was strongly associated with non-angiogenic tumours. A pilot investigation showed that P53 mutations were observed in 32.0% of angiogenic cases but in 71.4% of non-angiogenic tumours.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our observations thus far indicate that both angiogenic and non-angiogenic tumours experience hypoxia/HIF and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathway protein expression in a comparable fashion. However, angiogenesis does not ensue in the non-angiogenic tumours. Surprisingly, metabolic reprogramming seems to distinguish these two types of neoplastic growth. On the basis of these results, we raise the hypothesis that in some, but not in all cases, initial tissue remodeling and/or inflammation could be one of the secondary steps necessary to trigger angiogenesis. In the non-angiogenic tumours, in which neovascularisation fails to occur, HIF pathway activation could be the driving force toward metabolic reprogramming.
authors.affiliation: Radcliffe Department of Medicine, Nuffield Division of Laboratory Science, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK. omanezi@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Omanma
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Adighibe
authors.affiliation: Radcliffe Department of Medicine, Nuffield Division of Laboratory Science, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK. russell.leek@oncology.ox.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Russell D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Leek
authors.affiliation: Radcliffe Department of Medicine, Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research Molecular Haematology Unit, Nuffield Division of Laboratory Science, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK. marfermer@yahoo.es.|Biodonostia Research Institute, Oncology Area, San Sebastian, Spain. marfermer@yahoo.es.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fernandez-Mercado
authors.affiliation: Radcliffe Department of Medicine, Nuffield Division of Laboratory Science, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK. jianting.hu@ndcls.ox.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Jiangting
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Radcliffe Department of Medicine, Nuffield Division of Laboratory Science, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK. cameron.snell@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Cameron
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Snell
authors.affiliation: Radcliffe Department of Medicine, Nuffield Division of Laboratory Science, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK. kevin.gatter@ndcls.ox.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Kevin C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Gatter
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Molecular Oncology Laboratories, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK. Adrian.Harris@oncology.ox.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Adrian L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.affiliation: Radcliffe Department of Medicine, Nuffield Division of Laboratory Science, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK. francesco.pezzella@ndcls.ox.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pezzella
mesh_terms: D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000098:blood supply / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D051793:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D015398:Signal Transduction; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D000072258:Tumor Hypoxia; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000235:genetics; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D051793:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1; C495901:TP53 protein, human; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; C467484:VEGFA protein, human; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A