Expression of VEGF and MMP-9 in lung cancer

Objective:To detect the relationship between VEGF and MMP-9 and investigate the mechanisms of VEGF effecting invasion of lung cancer. Methods:Immunohistochemistry was used to examine the expression of VEGF ,MMP-9 and iMVD in 45 resected specimens of lung cancer. The relationship between the expression levels of either VEGF or MMP-9 and clinicopathological factors was evaluated. Results:No statistical significant difference was observed between expression of either VEGF or MMP-9 and tumor diameter,lymph node metastasis,pathological stage and type (P0.05).iMVD was 31.36±11.91 per high-power field in VEGF-negative tumors and 45.58±15.60 per high-power field in VEGF-positive tumors,there was a statistical significant difference between them (P0.05). iMVD in MMP-9-positive tumors (44.64±16.41 per high-power field ) was significantly higher than that in MMP-9-negative tumors (31.13±9.41 per high-power field) (P0.05).The expression of VEGF and MMP-9 was significantly associated (C=0.471,P0.001).Conclusions:There is a close correlation between VEGF and MMP-9 expression in lung cancer tissues,and between either VEGF or MMP-9 and iMVD. Both VEGF and MMP-9 possibly take part in the angiogenesis of tumor and promote lung cancer cell infiltration and metastasis.