Expression of Vascular Endothelial Cell Growth Factor in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Objective To assess the expression of vascular endothelial cell growth factor(VEGF) in non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC) and investigate the correlations between VEGF,microvessel density(MVD) and clinicopathological factors of NSCLC.Methods The expression of VEGF and VⅢ factorrelated antigen were examined by SABC immunohistochemistry in 68 cases of NSCLC tissue,13 cases of tumor surrounding tissue and 13 cases of normal tissue.The number of microvessel labelled by VⅢ factor related antigen was calculated.Results The positive expression rates of VEGF and MVD in NSCLC were significantly higer than those in normal tissue and tumor surrounding tissue;MVD was significantly higher in NSCLC with a diameter of more than 5 cm than in those smaller,in adenoma than in squamous cancer,in NSCLC with distant metastasis than in those without.MVD was markedly increased in stage Ⅳ than in stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ diseases,or in stage Ⅲ than in stage Ⅰ diseases.The MVD increased in the high TNM stage.MVD was significantly higher in VEGF-positive NSCLC than in VEGF-negative NSCLC.MVD increased with the raise of the VEGF expression.Conclusion Angiogenesis is related to the growth,invasion,metastasis and development of NSCLC.The positive rate of VEGF expression is high in NSCLC and VEGF is one of the important angiogenic factors.MVD can be used to determine the biological behavior and predict the development of NSCLC.