Evaluation of vegf immunohistochemical expression and correlation with clinicopathologic features in colorectal cancer

ABSTRACT

Vascular endothelial growth factor [VEGF] is a signal protein produced by cells that stimulates angiogenesis and increased vascular permeability. The prognostic value of VEGF expression in colorectal cancer is unclear as shown by the discordant results still reported in the literature. This study was designed for the evaluation of VEGF expression and correlation with clinicopathologic features in colorectal cancer. In this study, 60 paraffin - embedded blocks including colorectal cancer specimens and adjacent non-neoplastic tissues were evaluated for VEGF irnmunohistochemical expression and their correlation with clinicopathologic features among the patients who admitted in Sari Imam Khomeini hospital. Among the 60 patients [30 males,30 females] 51.7% [31 cases] showed VEGF overexpression [High staining], while it was 1.7% [1 case] in adjacent normal tissue [p=0.004]. VEGF expression was correlated with stage [p-value<0.001],grade [p-value<0.001], lymph node metastasis [p-value<0.001], recurrence [p-value<0.001] and tumor size [p-value<0.001]. In other clinicopathologic parameters, no relationship with VEGF expression was seen. These findings provide further evidence for the role of VEGF in colorectal carcinogenesis. Some previous studies showed discordant results, consequently more studies with larger sample size to confirm results are recommended