Expression and its Significance of VEGF in Unspecified Peripheral T-cell Lymphoma

Objective To investigate the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) and its clinical significance in unspecified peripheral T-cell lymphoma.Methods VEGF mRNA and expression of VEGF protein were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR method and immunohistochemistry,respecitvely.Microvessel density(MVD) was obtained after staining of microvessels using CD34 antibody.SPSS10.0 statistical software was used to analyze the correlations between the expression of VEGF and the MVD,and the clinical features and the prognosis of unspecified peripheral T-cell lymphoma patients.Results(1) Up-regulation of VEGF mRNA was found in 14/20(70.0%)patients by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR method and the tumor cells expressed VEGF protein in 13/20(65.0%) patients by immunohistochemistry;(2) The expression of VEGF was positively correlated to the MVD of the tumor(r= 0.8,p=0.0270);(3) VEGF expression was correlated to clinical stages,B symptom or the serum level of lactate dehydrogenase(LDH)(p=0.034,0.013 or 0.007);(4) Cox multivariate analysis showed the age of more than 60 years and the positive VEGF expression were independent prognostic factors(p=0.040,p=0.027).Conclusion VEGF was widely expressed in unspecified peripheral T-cell lymphoma tissues and might be closely related to clinical features and the prognosis of the tumor.