Clinical implications of PTEN and VEGF expression status, as well as microvessel density in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Author：

Publisher： Spandidos Publications

E-ISSN： 1792-1082|10|3|1409-1415

ISSN： 1792-1074

Source： Oncology Letters, Vol.10, Iss.3, 2015-01, pp. : 1409-1415

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Abstract

There are limitations to the use of single biomarker levels, for example phosphate and tensin homology (PTEN) or vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), in the diagnosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). The present study therefore aimed to evaluate the clinical implications of combined detection of multiple biomarkers. The associations between PTEN and VEGF expression status, microvessel density (MVD), and the pathological characteristics of 50 patients with ESCC were determined using χ2, analysis of variance, and ttests. The results indicated that the PTENpositive rate was negatively correlated with ESCC histological grade (P<0.01), depth of ESCC invasion (P<0.01) and lymph node metastasis status. Furthermore, the VEGFpositive rate was correlated with lymph node metastasis status, while MVD was correlated with the depth of ESCC invasion (P<0.01) and lymph node metastasis status (P<0.05). The PTENpositive rate was negatively correlated with the VEGFpositive rate. A higher MVD was identified in ESCC samples than that of the normal esophageal mucosa, particularly in VEGFpositive ESCC specimens compared with those of VEGFnegative specimens, and PTENnegative ESCC specimens compared with that of the PTENpositive ESCC specimens. These results suggested that combined detection of PTEN and VEGF levels, as well as evaluation of MVD in patients with ESCC may provide essential information for improvements in the diagnosis and prognosis of ESCC.