Korean J Urol.  2001 Jun;42(6):621-626.

The Relationship between Prostate-specific Antigen, Invasiveness and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Human Prostatic Cancer

• Kim HJ
• Kim DS
• Yun DK
• Cho JH
• Kim CW
• Choi JB

Abstract

PURPOSE: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) known as an angiogenic factor is a potent inducer of pathologic neovascularization. The purpose of this study is identifying the relationship between serum PSA, invasiveness and VEGF expression in prostatic cancer.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Ex-vivo study with immunohistochemical stain analysis for VEGF expression was performed on 18 paraffin embedded specimens of prostatic cancer patients who were treated with radical prostatectomy. VEGF expressions were classified by three groups (1+ , 2+ , 3+ ) according to the degree of staining of cancer cell. Biochemical failure and recurrence were determined by Takayama's IMx PSA assay criterion (>0.1ng/ml) following radical prostatectomy.
RESULTS
Immunohistochemical studies demonstrated that each group contained 1, 2, 8 patients in advanced disease (n=11), and 3, 2, 2 patients in localized disease (n=7), respectively. All cases in strong positive (3+ ) group had Gleason sum higher than 7 and nadir PSA values were lower than 0.1ng/ml except one case. We found no correlation between initial PSA and VEGF expression (p=0.361). Three biochemical recurrent patients were identified as strong positive VEGF expression.
CONCLUSIONS
Our study indicates that patients with advanced stage and higher Gleason sum have a trend with more VEGF expression than patients with localized disease. Identifying the angiogenesis factors especially, VEGF involved in prostatic cancer growth and understanding their regulation will lead to the developement of anti-angiogenic strategies useful for diagnostic studies and therapeutic interventions.

Keyword

Prostate cancer; Vascular endothelial growth factor; Angiogenesis Prostate-specific antigen

MeSH Terms

Angiogenesis Inducing Agents
Humans*
Neovascularization, Pathologic
Paraffin
Prostate-Specific Antigen*
Prostatectomy
Prostatic Neoplasms*
Recurrence
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A*
Angiogenesis Inducing Agents
Paraffin
Prostate-Specific Antigen
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A