BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptors fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (Flt-1) and kinase insert domain containing receptor (KDR) play critical roles in angiogenesis and tumor progression. This study was to explore the correlations of VEGF, Flt-1 and KDR expression to clinical features and prognosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients.

METHODS

Immunohistochemistry was adopted to detect the expression of VEGF, Flt-1, and KDR in 127 specimens of NPC. SPSS statistical software was used to analyze their correlations to clinical features and prognosis of NPC patients.

RESULTS

The positive rates of VEGF,Flt-1,and KDR were 66.9%, 90.6%, and 88.2% in the NPC specimens. The expression of VEGF was positively related to the expression of Flt-1 and KDR (r=0.292, P<0.01; r=0.287, P<0.01). The expression of Flt-1 was positively related to the expression of KDR (r=0.723, P<0.01). VEGF expression was related to primary tumor site, lymph node metastasis, and clinical stage (P=0.04, P<0.01, P=0.02, respectively); KDR expression was related to primary tumor site (P=0.03); all of them were related to local recurrence and/or distal metastasis (P<0.01, P<0.01, P=0.01, respectively), and poor overall survival (P<0.01, P=0.01, P=0.03, respectively). Cox multivariate analysis showed age of more than 50 years and positive VEGF expression were independent prognostic factors (P<0.01, P<0.01).

CONCLUSION

VEGF, Flt-1, and KDR are widely expressed in NPC tissues, and are positively related to clinical features and prognosis of NPC patients.