Vascular endothelial growth factor expression and its significance in brain astrocytoma

Objective To study the relationship between the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) and the angiogenesis, growth and prognosis in brain astrocytoma.Methods Immunohistochemical techniques were used to detect the expression of VEGF and MVD in 82 cases of astrocytoma.The correlation of vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) expression with the angiogenesis, growth and prognostic value were analyzed.Results VEGF expression was correlated positively with MVD( r=0.63,P 0.01): the more malignant the astrocytoma was, the higher the expression of VEGF( P 0.05,0.01). The VEGF expression was also correlated with peritumor edema( P 0.05,0.01), had not correlation with the size, the location of the tumor and the sex of patient( P 0.05).Conclusion The expression of VEGF has a significant correlation with the angiogenesis, growth and prognosis of brain astrocytoma and it may be an independent factor of prognosis of the disease.