PULMONARY ADENOCARCINOMA ANGIOGENESIS - A STUDY OF FACTORS THAT MAY INFLUENCE TUMOR ANGIOGENESIS AND SURVIVAL

The basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), the transforming growth fac tor (TGF)-beta 1, and the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) ex pressions have been studied individually and in combinations with the factor 8-related antigen (F8RA) in relation to the microvascular densi ty and prognosis of a pulmonary adenocarcinoma. The findings have reve aled that the bFGF, TGF-beta 1 and VEGF expressions all correlated wit h microvascular density and the prognosis. A reduced expression of all three angiogenic factors correlated with-less tumor angiogenesis and a better prognosis. A multivariate analysis of the three prognostic fa ctors also revealed that the the bFGF expression correlated with survi val. These findings indicate that bFGF, TGF-beta 1, and VEGF expressio ns play important roles in tumor angiogenesis, and that the bFGF expre ssion is a useful prognostic marker for assessing the outcome bf a pul monary adenocarcinoma.