Correlation of the vascular endothelial growth factor and microvessel density with the invasiveness and metastasis of colorectal carcinoma

Objective To investigate the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and microvessel density (MVD) in colorectal carcinoma and their relationships with the invasiveness and metastasis of human colorectal carcinoma. Methods 78 colorectal carcinomas were studied immunohistochemically (s-p methods) for the expression of VEGF and MVD. Their relationships to the invasiveness and metastasis of colorectal carcinoma were analysed. Results The positive rate of VEGF and the value of MVD were higher in the lymph node metastatic group (n=32) and in the liver metastatic group (n=15) than in the non-metastatic groups (P0.01 and P0.05). Besides, the expression of VEGF and the value of MVD ware positively correlated with the depth of invasion (P0.01). Conclusion VEGF expression and MVD are positively correlated with the depth of invasion and the range of metastasis of colorectal carcinoma. VEGF and MVD may be valuable markers for estimating the malignancy of colorectal carcinoma.