Fontanini G, Boldrini L, Chinè S, Pisaturo F, Basolo F, Calcinai A, Lucchi M, Mussi A, Angeletti C A, Bevilacqua G
Department of Oncology, University of Pisa, Italy.
Br J Cancer. 1999 Jan;79(2):363-9. doi: 10.1038/sj.bjc.6690058.
The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has been shown to be strictly related to vascular permeability and endothelial cell growth under physiological and pathological conditions. In tumour development and progression, VEGF plays a pivotal role in the development of the tumoral vascular network, and useful information in the progression of human cancer can be obtained by analysing the vascular endothelial growth factor expression of the tumours. In this study, we investigated the vascular endothelial growth factor transcript expression in non-small-cell lung carcinomas to evaluate the significance of this factor in a group of cancers in which the vascular pattern has been shown to significantly affect progression. Surgical samples of 42 patients with NSCLC were studied using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis and in situ hybridization. Thirty-three out of 42 cases (78.6%) showed VEGF transcript expression predominantly as transcripts for the secretory forms of VEGF (isoforms 121 and 165). In situ hybridization, performed on 24 out of 42 samples, showed that the VEGF transcript expression was in several cases present in the cytoplasm both of neoplastic and normal cells, even if the VEGF mRNA was less expressed in the corresponding non-tumoral part. The VEGF 121 expression was associated with hilar and/or mediastinal nodal involvement (P = 0.02), and, taken together, the VEGF isoforms were shown to significantly influence overall (P = 0.02) and disease-free survival (P = 0.03). As a regulator of tumour angiogenesis, VEGF may represent a useful indicator of progression and poor prognosis in non-small-cell lung carcinomas.
血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）已被证明在生理和病理条件下与血管通透性及内皮细胞生长密切相关。在肿瘤发生和发展过程中，VEGF在肿瘤血管网络形成中起关键作用，通过分析肿瘤的血管内皮生长因子表达可获得有关人类癌症进展的有用信息。在本研究中，我们调查了非小细胞肺癌中血管内皮生长因子转录本的表达情况，以评估该因子在一组血管模式已显示出对进展有显著影响的癌症中的意义。使用逆转录聚合酶链反应（PCR）分析和原位杂交技术对42例非小细胞肺癌患者的手术样本进行了研究。42例病例中有33例（78.6%）显示VEGF转录本表达，主要为VEGF分泌形式（亚型121和165）的转录本。对42个样本中的24个进行原位杂交，结果显示在一些病例中，肿瘤细胞和正常细胞的细胞质中均存在VEGF转录本表达，尽管VEGF mRNA在相应的非肿瘤部分表达较少。VEGF 121表达与肺门和/或纵隔淋巴结受累相关（P = 0.02），总体而言，VEGF亚型显示出对总生存期（P = 0.02）和无病生存期（P = 0.03）有显著影响。作为肿瘤血管生成的调节因子，VEGF可能是非小细胞肺癌进展和预后不良的一个有用指标。
