The association of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 with the risk of cancer progression following radical prostatectomy.

In the current study, we analysed the prognostic value of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 (VEGFR-1) in clinically-localized prostate cancer (PCa). Forty patients who had undergone radical prostatectomy (RP) for clinically-localized PCa were included. Two groups were compared: 17 patients who experienced cancer progression following RP (group 1) and 23 patients who remained free of recurrence after intervention (group 2). Paraffin-embedded sections obtained from the RP specimens of the 40 patients were used to build tissue microarrays. The expression of VEGFR-1 was examined in the RP specimens using immunohistochemistry and was compared between the groups of patients. The two groups had similar tumor characteristics in terms of PSA, Gleason score and pathological stage of cancer. The median intensity score of VEGFR-1 expression was significantly higher in pT3 tumors than in pT2 tumors. Nevertheless, the intensity scores of VEGFR-1 expression were similar in the two groups of patients. Our results suggest that VEGFR-1 expression is not associated with the risk of cancer progression following RP. Therefore, VEGFR-1 may not be of prognostic value in clinically-localized PCa.