Correlation of p53 and vascular endothelial growth factor expression to angiogenesis in gastric carcinoma and its clinical significance

Objective To investigate the relationship between the expression of p53 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) to angiogenesis in gastric carcinoma. Methods The expression of p53、VEGF and microvascular density (MVD) in gastric carcinoma was examined by immunohistochemical staining in 60 cases.Results There was a close correlation between MVD, p53 as well as VEGF expression and several clinicopathological factors including tumor size(P005), penetrating depth(P001), lymph node metastasis(P001) and TNM stage(P001). Increased expression of p53 and VEGF was significantly correlated with an increase in MVD(P001).The average MVD in dead cases (50±19) was higher than that in the survivals (27±6); Multivariate regression analysis showed that MVD is an independent prognostic factor Conclusions These findings indicated that the mutant p53 may stimulate angiogenesis through VEGF upregulation in gastric carcinoma and accordingly influence tumor progression.