Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-C and VEGF-D in early gastric carcinoma: correlation with clinicopathological parameters

Onogawa, Seiji; Kitadai, Yasuhiko; Amioka, Toru; Kodama, Michiyo; Cho, Songde; Kuroda, Tsuyoshi; Ochiumi, Takehiko; Kimura, Shigeru; Kuwai, Toshio; Tanaka, Shinji; Chayama, Kazuaki

doi:10.1016/j.canlet.2004.12.030

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Volume 226, Issue 1 , Pages 85-90, 8 August 2005

Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-C and VEGF-D in early gastric carcinoma: correlation with clinicopathological parameters

Seiji Onogawa
- Department of Medicine and Molecular Science, Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 1-2-3, Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima 734-8551, Japan
Yasuhiko Kitadai
- Department of Medicine and Molecular Science, Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 1-2-3, Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima 734-8551, Japan
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +81 82 257 5193; fax: +81 82 257 5194.
Toru Amioka
- Department of Medicine and Molecular Science, Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 1-2-3, Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima 734-8551, Japan
Michiyo Kodama
- Department of Medicine and Molecular Science, Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 1-2-3, Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima 734-8551, Japan
Songde Cho
- Department of Medicine and Molecular Science, Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 1-2-3, Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima 734-8551, Japan
Tsuyoshi Kuroda
- Department of Medicine and Molecular Science, Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 1-2-3, Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima 734-8551, Japan
Takehiko Ochiumi
- Department of Medicine and Molecular Science, Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 1-2-3, Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima 734-8551, Japan
Shigeru Kimura
- Department of Medicine and Molecular Science, Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 1-2-3, Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima 734-8551, Japan
Toshio Kuwai
- Department of Medicine and Molecular Science, Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 1-2-3, Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima 734-8551, Japan
Shinji Tanaka
- Department of Endoscopy, Hiroshima University Hospital, 1-2-3, Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, Japan
Kazuaki Chayama
- Department of Medicine and Molecular Science, Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 1-2-3, Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima 734-8551, Japan

Received 21 September 2004; received in revised form 29 November 2004; accepted 15 December 2004.

Abstract

In this study, we investigated whether expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-C and/or VEGF-D correlates with clinicopathological features of human gastric carcinoma. We immunohistochemically examined the expression of VEGF-C and VEGF-D in 140 archival surgical specimens of submucosally invasive gastric carcinoma. Of these specimens, 32 (22.9%) and 12 (8.6%) showed intense VEGF-C and VEGF-D immunoreactivity in cancer cells, respectively. VEGF-C immunoreactivity was associated with histological type, lymphatic invasion, lymph node metastasis, and microvessel density. No association was identified between VEGF-D immunoreactivity and clinicopathological variables. These results suggest that VEGF-C is a dominant regulator of lymphangiogenesis in early-stage human gastric carcinoma.

Keywords: Gastric carcinoma, Lymphangiogenesis, VEGF-C, VEGF-D