Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and microvessel density in elderly gastric cancer and the relationship with prognostic

Objective To explore the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) and microvessel density(MVD) in elderly gastric cancer and the relationship between VEGF,MVD and prognosis. Methods Immunohistochemistry method was performed to detect VEGF and MVD in 68 elderly patients with gastric cancer.The relationship between VEGF,MVD and prognosis were analysed. Results The positive rate of VEGF in gastric cancer tissue and adjacent tissues were 60.3% and 8.8% respectively(P0.01);the three years survival rate and five years survival rate were lower in patients with positive VEGF and high MVD level than patients with negative VEGF and normal MVD level(P0.01).Both VEGF expression and MVD were associated with tumour node metastases(TNM) stage,lymph node metastasis and tumor invasion. Conclusion VEGF expression has close relationship with angiogenesis and tumor progress,and it is an important prognostic factors for elderly gastric cancer.