Immunohistochemical study on tumor angiogenic factors in non-small cell lung cancer

Background. In order to elucidate the roles of tumor angiogenesis in lung c arcinogenesis, the expressions of several angiogenic factors in lung carcin oma tissues were examined. Materials and Methods. Tissue specimens from 112 cases of resected non-small cell lung cancel (NSCLC) were studied. The exp ressions of platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor (PD-ECGF) and v ascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were examined immunohistochemicall y. Microvessel density (MVD) was also evaluated. Results. VEGF-positive cas es were observed more frequently in advanced stage lung cancers than in ear ly cancers and VEGF-positive rumors had higher MVD than VEGF-negative tumor s, while such differences were not observed for PD-ECGF. In squamous cell c arcinoma, the patients with hgh-MVD tumor had significantly worse survival than those with low-MVD tumor. Conclusions. Our results suggest that VEGF p lays an important role in angiogenesis of lung cancers, wile the contributi on of PD-ECGF may be limited.