Expression of cyclooxygenase-2,vascular endothelial growth factor and their prognostic significance in gastric carcinoma

Purpose:To investigate the relationship between expression of COX-2,VEGF in gastric carcinoma and its prognostic significance.Methods:281 patients with early and middle stage of gastric carcinoma were followed up. Expression of COX-2 and VEGF was examined by immunohistochemistry in 232 archival paraffinembedded tissue specimens.Results:The MVD value was much higher in COX-2(+) group and VEGF(+) group than that in COX-2(-) group and VEGF(-) group ( P 0.01). Expression of COX-2,VEGF and the MVD value were highly correlated with lymph node metastasis and vascular invasion( P 0.01). The 5-year survival rate in the patients with COX-2,VEGF expression was much lower than the rate in those patients without COX-2,VEGF expression ( P 0.01). Multivariate analysis indicated that VEGF expression,lymph node metastasis,COX-2 expression,depth of invasion and vascular invasion were all independent prognostic factors of gastric carcinoma.Conclusions:Overexpression of COX-2 and VEGF in patients with gastric carcinoma can enhance the possibility of invasion and metastasis,impliying a poor prognosis. They may serve as fairly good prognostic factors to indicate biologic behavior and prognosis in gastric carcinoma.