Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Tokai University School of Medicine, 143 Shimokasuya, Isehara, Kanagawa, 259-1193, Japan.
Department of Esophageal Surgery, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
Esophagus. 2020 Jul;17(3):289-297. doi: 10.1007/s10388-020-00719-8. Epub 2020 Jan 24.
Vasohibins (VASH), which are angiogenesis regulators, consist of Vasohibin-1 (VASH1) and Vasohibin-2 (VASH2). VASH1 is an angiogenesis inhibitor, while VASH2 is a proangiogenic factor. Patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) with high tumor expression levels of VASH1 and VASH2 have been reported to show a poor prognosis. The clinical significance of VASH concentrations in the blood of patients with ESCC has not yet been investigated.
Plasma samples from 89 patients with ESCC were analyzed, and the relationships between the plasma VASH concentrations and the clinicopathological factors of the patients were evaluated. Immunohistochemical examination (IHC) of the resected tumor specimens for VASH was performed in 56 patients, and the correlation between the plasma VASH concentrations and tumor expression levels of VASH was analyzed.
The patient group with high plasma concentrations of VASH1 showed a higher frequency of lymph node metastasis (P = 0.01) and an invasive growth pattern (P = 0.05). Furthermore, poorly differentiated cancer occurred at a higher frequency in the patient group with high plasma concentrations of VASH2 (P < 0.01). High tumor expression levels of VASH1 were encountered more frequently in the patient group with high plasma concentrations of VASH1 (P = 0.03), and high tumor expression levels of VASH2 were encountered more frequently in the patient group with high plasma concentrations of VASH2 (P = 0.04).
In patients with ESCC, high plasma concentrations were associated with poor clinical outcomes for both VASH1 and VASH2. We propose that results indicate that plasma VASH1 and VASH2 are useful biomarkers in patients with ESCC.
血管生成素（VASH）是血管生成调节剂，由血管生成素-1（VASH1）和血管生成素-2（VASH2）组成。VASH1 是一种血管生成抑制剂，而 VASH2 是一种促血管生成因子。已有报道称，食管鳞状细胞癌（ESCC）患者肿瘤中 VASH1 和 VASH2 的高表达水平与预后不良有关。尚未研究 ESCC 患者血液中 VASH 浓度的临床意义。
分析 89 例 ESCC 患者的血浆样本，评估血浆 VASH 浓度与患者临床病理因素的关系。对 56 例患者的切除肿瘤标本进行 VASH 的免疫组织化学检查（IHC），分析血浆 VASH 浓度与肿瘤 VASH 表达水平的相关性。
高血浆 VASH1 浓度组患者的淋巴结转移频率更高（P=0.01），侵袭性生长模式更常见（P=0.05）。此外，高血浆 VASH2 浓度组患者更常发生低分化癌（P<0.01）。高血浆 VASH1 浓度组患者 VASH1 肿瘤高表达更为常见（P=0.03），高血浆 VASH2 浓度组患者 VASH2 肿瘤高表达更为常见（P=0.04）。
在 ESCC 患者中，高血浆浓度与 VASH1 和 VASH2 的不良临床结局均相关。我们提出，结果表明血浆 VASH1 和 VASH2 是 ESCC 患者有用的生物标志物。
