Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor in cerebellar hemangioblastomas does not correlate with tumor angiogenesis.

The relation between angiogenesis and tissue expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was studied in a series of 14 capillary cerebellar hemangioblastomas. In the present series, the number of intratumoral microvessels, identified by the endothelial marker CD34, does not correlate with the degree of VEGF expression. This finding suggests that endothelial growth factors other than VEGF may regulate tumor angiogenesis in these neoplasms.