Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 and its phosphorylated state in cancerous and peri-cancerous tissues of hepatocellular carcinoma after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization

Abstract

Objective To investigate vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2(VEGFR-2)and its phosphorylated state in cancerous and peri-cancerous tissues of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization(TACE).Methods Forty-three cases of second-stage surgery of HCC after TACE(TACE & surgery group)and twenty cases of surgery without TACE(direct surgery group)were performed.Surgical specimens were made into paraffin-embedded slices.VEGFR-2,phosphorylated VEGFR-2,hypoxia induced factor-1α(HIF-1α)and microvessel density(MVD,labeled by CD31)were detected using immunohistochemical method.All data was statistically processed with SPSS for Windows.Results The absorption factor(A factor)of phosphorylated VEGFR-2 and HIF-1α in the cancerous tissue of HCC were(0.034±0.016)and(0.047±0.021)in TACE & surgery group,and(0.024±0.009)and(0.035±0.016)in direct-surgery group,which showed statistically significant difference(F=6.75,4.77,P＜0.05).The A factors of VEGFR-2,phosphorylated VEGFR-2 and HIF-1α in the peri-cancerous tissue were(0.040±0.017),(0.031±0.011)and(0.037±0.015)respectively in TACE & surgery group,and(0.030±0.015),(0.020±0.008)and(0.024±0.014)respectively in direct-surgery group,all of which showed statistically significant difference(F=4.60,13.72,11.65,P＜0.05).MVD of the peri-cancerous tissue was(58.3±15.2)/HP in TACE & surgery group and(44.4±10.5)/HP in direct-surgery group,which showed statistically significant difference(χ2=13.64,P＜0.05).Conclusion The cancerous and peri-cancerous tissues in HCC after TACE showed more hypoxic changes.Both expression and function of VEGFR-2 were enhanced following TACE. Key words: Carcinoma,hepatocellular; Chemoembolization,therapeutic; Vscular endothelial growth factor receptor-2; Radiology,interventional