Clinicopathological significance of VEGF expression and microvascular density in renal clear cell carci-noma

Abstract

Objective To evaluate vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression and micro-vascular density (MVD),and their clinicopathological significance in clear cell renal carcinoma (CCRCC).Methods Immunohistochemistry method was used to examine the expression of VEGF.CD34 staining endo-thelial cells were applied to measure the MVD.Results Sixty-six cases of CCRCC were collected.VEGF ex-pressions in 36(54.5%) cases were positive.No significant relationship was detected between VEGF expres-sion and clinicopathological parameters.The MVD value was 12-96.3.The levels of MVD were significantly lower in advanced TNM staging (P=0.000),high grading (P=0.005) and metastasized tumors (P=0.011).In larger tumors,the cases of MVD 50(26.7%) were much less than those of MVD <50 (73.3%).There was no significant relationship between the expression of VEGF and MVD,and neither of them was correlated with the renal capsule infiltration.Conclusion The overexpression of VEGF in CCRCC shows that it may be the target molecule for treatment.The value of MVD is inversely correlated with the grad-ing and staging of CCRCC,indicating its significance in the prognosis assessment of CCRCC. Key words: Kidney neoplasms; Vascular endothelial growth factors; Immunohistochemistry; Micro-vascular density