Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor in patients with testicular germ cell tumors as an indicator of metastatic disease

✍ Scribed by Souichirou Fukuda; Tsutomu Shirahama; Yoshiharu Imazono; Tomoyasu Tsushima; Hiroyuki Ohmori; Tsuneyoshi Kayajima; Saburou Take; Kenryu Nishiyama; Suguru Yonezawa; Suminori Akiba; Shin-ichi Akiyama; Yoshitada Ohi

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 209 KB
• Volume: 85
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0008-543X
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0142(19990315)85:6<1323::aid-cncr15>3.0.co;2-g

✦ Synopsis

BACKGROUND.

Angiogenesis is essential for tumor growth and metastasis. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and thymidine phosphorylase (TP)/platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor (PD-ECGF) are involved in increased angiogenic activity and disease progression in solid tumors. However, there is no information regarding the association of these angiogenic factors with clinicopathologic findings in testicular germ cell tumors (GCTs).

METHODS.

The authors examined the expression of VEGF and TP as well as microvessel density in GCTs and their association with clinicopathologic findings.

Expression of VEGF and TP and microvessel density were examined immunohistochemically in 80 GCTs, including 33 seminomas (25 tumors with organ-confined disease and 8 with metastasis) and 47 nonseminomatous testicular GCTs (NSGCTs) (20 tumors with organ-confined disease and 27 with metastasis). Expression of VEGF also was examined in four GCTs and one nonneoplastic testis by immunoblotting.