Expression of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Lim, Do Hyoung; Lee, Kyu Suk; Lee, Kang Won; Hong, Young Ho; Kim, Hoon

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
The growth of tumor is dependent on angiogenesis. Expressions of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) as a prognostic indicator has been documented for various types of human tumors. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the expression of VEGF and the differentiation and TNM stage of the laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHOD: The VEGF expression was evaluated by immunohistochemical staining with monoclonal anti-VEGF antibody in 28 cases of the laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. RESULTS: The positive staining for VEGF was observed in 5 (31.3%) out of 16 cases of well differentiated carcinomas and 7 (58.3%) out of 12 cases of moderately differentiated carcinomas. Comparing with the TNM staging system, no positive staining was found in any of the stage I cases; however, 2 out of 6 cases (33.3%) of stage II, 3 out of 7 cases (42.9%) of stage III and 6 out of 9 cases (66.7%) of stage IV showed positive staining for VEGF. There was statistical relationship between the differentiation and positive expression for VEGF, but not between the stage of the laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma and the VEGF expression. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that there is a clinical correlation of VEGF expression to the progress of differentiation and tumor stages.