Department of Hematology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China.
Key Lab of Otolaryngology-Ministry of Health, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China.
Clin Chim Acta. 2014 Sep 25;436:243-8. doi: 10.1016/j.cca.2014.06.005. Epub 2014 Jun 17.
VEGF and Dll4/Notch pathways play important roles in tumor angiogenesis. The purpose of this study is to investigate the expression of these two pathway molecules in ovarian cancer and their possible relationships in carcinogenesis.
Twenty-eight specimens of human ovarian carcinoma, 18 of benign ovarian and 20 of healthy ovarian tissues were subjected to immunohistochemical analysis for VEGF, VEGFR1, and VEGFR2, Dll4, Notch1, and Notch3 expression. Microvessel density (MVD) was evaluated by counting the number of CD34-stained microvessels in each pathologic specimen.
The expression of VEGF, VEGFR1, Dll4, Notch1, or Notch3 in ovarian tumor tissues was higher than that in normal ovary tissues as well as that in benign ovarian tumor tissues (P<0.05). In the tumor tissues, Dll4 was positively correlated with VEGFR1 expression and Notch1 was positively associated with VEGFR2 and MVD. Moreover, VEGFR2 expression was positively associated with ascites and distant metastasis (R=0.401, P=0.034).
Dll4 represents a potential biomarker and therapeutic target for ovarian angiogenesis. VEGFR2 is significantly related to ovarian metastasis and invasion. Therefore testing the key molecules of these two pathways expression may have some diagnostic and prognostic value for ovarian cancer.
VEGF 和 Dll4/Notch 通路在肿瘤血管生成中起着重要作用。本研究旨在探讨这两种通路分子在卵巢癌中的表达及其在癌变过程中的可能关系。
对 28 例人卵巢癌标本、18 例良性卵巢和 20 例正常卵巢组织进行免疫组化分析，检测 VEGF、VEGFR1 和 VEGFR2、Dll4、Notch1 和 Notch3 的表达。通过计数每个病理标本中 CD34 染色的微血管数来评估微血管密度（MVD）。
卵巢癌组织中 VEGF、VEGFR1、Dll4、Notch1 或 Notch3 的表达高于正常卵巢组织和良性卵巢肿瘤组织（P<0.05）。在肿瘤组织中，Dll4 与 VEGFR1 表达呈正相关，Notch1 与 VEGFR2 和 MVD 呈正相关。此外，VEGFR2 表达与腹水和远处转移呈正相关（R=0.401，P=0.034）。
Dll4 是卵巢血管生成的潜在生物标志物和治疗靶点。VEGFR2 与卵巢转移和侵袭密切相关。因此，检测这两种通路关键分子的表达可能对卵巢癌具有一定的诊断和预后价值。
