Preliminary study on the expression and clinicopathological significance of VEGF-C mRNA in prostate cancer

Objective Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancer in males. The article was to investigate the expression and clinicopathological significance of VEGF-C mRNA in prostate cancer,finding the molecular marker for early diagnosis and prognosis assessment of prostate cancer. Methods TaqMan real-time polymerase chain reaction( PCR) analysis was used to detect the expression of VEGF-C mRNA in 3 prostate cancer cell lines( PC-3,DU145 and LNCap),32 cases of prostate cancer( Pca) samples and 15 cases of benign prostatic hyperplasia( BPH). Analysis was also made on the correlations of VEGF-C mRNA expression,clinicopathological features and prognosis. Results High levels of VEGF-C mRNA were detected in PC-3( 153. 31 ± 26. 24) and DU145( 194. 62 ± 41. 36) compared to LNcap( 1. 00 ± 0. 00). The expression of VEGF-C mRNA in prostate cancer tissues was 3. 43 folds higher than that in the benign prostatic hyperplasia tissues( [13. 67 ± 1. 95]vs [11. 89 ± 1. 63],P = 0. 004). The high expression of VEGF-C mRNA in prostate cancer was associated with high Gleason score( P = 0. 004) and lymph node metastasis( P =0. 015). In patients with high expression and low expression of VEGF-C mRNA,the 3-year survival rate was 12. 5% and 40. 0% respectively( P = 0. 033). Conclusion The VEGF-C mRNA expression may be related to the biological behavior of prostate cancer. It is suggested that VEGF-C mRNA can be used as a prognostic marker for prostate cancer.