The expression and clinical significance of MVD and VEGF in hepatocellular carcinoma

Objective To elucidate the relationship the angiogenesis and prognosis after curative resection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and to ascertain whether there were correlation between the histopathological characteristics of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its angiogenesis. Methods An immunohistochemical staining using anti-CD34 and VEGF antibody was carried out on surgical specimens from 57 HCC patients who had undergone curative resection to detect the expression of CD34 and VEGF; the microvessel density(MVD)was counted , the results were compared with histological characteristics and clinical data.Results The MVD level was significantly higher in HCC than in the surrounding non-neoplastic tissues,40.5±13.4(13～72)and 13.3± 7.2 (4～33), respectively(P= 0.001 ). The MVD level was related to tumor size, capsule status ,TNM stage and tumor number(P= 0.001 ,0.024,0.003 and 0.016, respectively). There were three types of tumor vessels: capillary-like(n=32), sinusoid-like(n=21) and mixed-type(n=4),the capillary-like tumor vessels appeared more frequently in the poor differentiated tumors(P=0.027). The expression of VEGF was higher in HCC than those in tumor-surrounding tissues,57.9% and 31.6%, respectively(P= 0.008 ), and was significantly relative to MVD levels in HCC(P=0.001). Conclusions VEGF may be associated with the angiogenic process of HCC. Angiogenesis is associated with progression of hepatocellular carcinoma,suggesting angiogenesis makes a important role in progression of HCC.