A Study on the Relationship among the VEGF Expression, Microvessel Density, Invasion and Metastasis in Human Colorectal Carcinoma

Objective To study the influence of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression and microvessel density (MVD) on invasion and metastasis of human colorectal carcinoma. Methods VEGF expression was detected by SABC immunohistochemical method and the new growth microvessels were highlighted by SP immunohistochemical staining of CD34 endothelial antigen in 61 colorected carcinoma tissues, and the MVD of tumor tissues was calculated. Results The positive expression rate of VEGF was 49 2% and the average MVD was 28 7±12 9 in colorectal carcinoma tissues. The VEGF expression and MVD in colorectal carcinoma tissues were significantly associated with the depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, liver metastasis and Dukes' stage (P0 01). Frequency of tumor adventitia infiltration, lymph node metastasis and liver metastasis in the carcinomas with higher MVD was significantly higher than that in the carcinomas with lower MVD. MVD in the carcinomas with VEGF positive expression was significantly higher than that in the carcinomas without VEGF expression (P0 01). Conclusion VEGF expression and MVD are significantly associated with invasion and metastasis of colorectal carcinomas and can be used as indicator of tumor behavior in colorectal carcinoma.