VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH-FACTOR (VEGF) EXPRESSION AND SURVIVAL IN HUMAN EPITHELIAL OVARIAN CARCINOMAS

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression and microvessel d ensity were studied in cases of advanced epithelial ovarian carcinoma to evaluate their usefulness as prognostic variables. Tumor samples fr om 18 patients with advanced stage serous epithelial ovarian cancer we re evaluated for VEGF expression by reverse-transcriptase polymerase c hain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis. Immunohistochemical study of correspo nding archival tissues with an antibody to von Willebrand factor (vWF; FVIII-RA) was used for tumor microvessel count determinations, The co rrelation of VEGF expression and mean microvessel counts was determine d by an unpaired t-test. Survival analysis for known prognostic factor s and VEGF expression was performed. Survival distributions were calcu lated by the product limit of Kaplan and Meier and significant differe nces between distributions were analyzed with a log rank test. From th e RT-PCR analysis of tumor VEGF expression, 12 samples were found to b e strongly positive, whereas six samples had low/negative VEGF express ion. The median survival was 60 months for the VEGF-low/negative group and 28 months for the VEGF-positive group (P = 0.058). Other prognost ic variables had minimal impact on survival, i.e. age < 65 years (P = 0.873), FIGO stage (P = 0.06), grade (P = 0.236) and debulking status (P = 0.842). Fourteen of 18 tumor specimens were suitable for microves sel counting. The mean microvessel counts of the VEGF-positive group a nd the VEGF-negative group were 27/hpf and 35/hpf, respectively (P = 0 .16). In this preliminary analysis, high VEGF expression in epithelial ovarian carcinomas was associated with poor overall survival. Further study will be necessary to elucidate the lack of association of VEGF expression and tumor microvessel counts. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ire land Ltd.