The constitutive level of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is more important than hypoxia-induced VEGF up-regulation in the angiogenesis of human melanoma xenografts.

Angiogenesis of tumours might develop as a result of environmental conditions, such as hypoxia, and/or as a result of genetic alterations specific for tumour cells. The relative contributions of these mechanisms were investigated by comparing the in vivo expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) to the hypoxic fraction, the angiogenic potential and the vascular density of four human melanoma lines (A-07, D-12, R-18, U-25) grown intradermally in Balb/c nu/nu mice. VEGF expression, bFGF expression and expression of pimonidazole, a marker of hypoxic cells, were investigated by immunohistochemistry. An association between high VEGF and bFGF expression and high angiogenic potential was detected, suggesting an important role for VEGF/bFGF in the angiogenesis of melanomas. High VEGF/bFGF expression was also related to low hypoxic fraction and high vascular density. Thus, the constitutive, genetically determined level of VEGF was probably more important than hypoxia-induced upregulation in the angiogenesis of the melanoma xenografts.