Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in epithelial ovarian neoplasms: correlation with clinicopathology and patient survival, and analysis of serum VEGF levels (original) (raw)

British Journal of Cancer volume 76, pages 1221–1227 (1997)Cite this article

Abstract

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is known to be produced by various solid tumours and is thought to be involved in microvascular permeability and/or angiogenesis. To examine the relationship between VEGF expression in ovarian neoplasms and clinicopathological factors or patient survival, expression of VEGF was analysed immunohistochemically in 110 epithelial ovarian tumours. In addition, VEGF levels in the tumour fluid (17 patients), ascites (12 patients) and sera (38 patients) were determined using enzyme immunoassay. Positive immunostaining for VEGF was observed in 97% (68 out of 70) of ovarian carcinomas, which was significantly higher than that of tumours of low malignant potential (LMP) (13 out of 25; 52%) and benign cystadenomas (5 out of 15; 33%) (P < 0.01). In ovarian carcinomas, strong VEGF immunostaining was also observed more frequently in tumours of clear cell type (P < 0.05) in the advanced stage of disease (P < 0.05) and with positive peritoneal cytology (P < 0.01). Patients with strong VEGF staining had poorer survival rates than those with weak or no immunostaining for VEGF (P < 0.01). These findings suggest that strong VEGF expression plays an important role in the tumour progression of ovarian carcinoma. The enzyme immunoassay revealed higher serum VEGF levels in carcinoma patients than those in patients with LMP or benign tumours (P < 0.01). Serum VEGF levels decreased after the successful removal of tumours in ovarian cancer patients and, in one patient, the serum VEGF level was re-elevated during relapse. Therefore, serum VEGF could be used as a marker for monitoring the clinical course of ovarian cancer patients.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Subscribe to this journal

Receive 24 print issues and online access

$259.00 per year

only $10.79 per issue

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Additional access options:

Similar content being viewed by others

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University, Japan
    S Yamamoto

Authors

  1. S Yamamoto
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  2. I Konishi
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  3. M Mandai
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  4. H Kuroda
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  5. T Komatsu
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  6. K Nanbu
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  7. H Sakahara
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  8. T Mori
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Yamamoto, S., Konishi, I., Mandai, M. et al. Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in epithelial ovarian neoplasms: correlation with clinicopathology and patient survival, and analysis of serum VEGF levels.Br J Cancer 76, 1221–1227 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1997.537

Download citation

This article is cited by