Prognostic significance of vascular endothelial growth factor expression and microvessel density in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: comparison with positron emission tomography.

BACKGROUND: This study investigated whether the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in a primary tumor and the intratumoral microvessel density (MVD) were independent prognostic factors in patients with an esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in comparison with positron emission tomography (PET) by using (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) and stage.
METHODS: Fifty-one patients with a newly diagnosed esophageal SCC who underwent preoperative FDG-PET and esophagectomy with intent to cure were enrolled in this study. The VEGF expression level, the intratumoral MVD, and the Ki-67 labeling index were evaluated by using immunohistochemical staining. Only significant variables in the univariate survival analysis were examined by multivariate survival analysis with the Cox proportional hazards model. RESULT: Cancer-related deaths occurred in 17 of 51 patients during the follow-up. Univariate survival analysis showed that the pathologic stage, pNM, maximum standardized uptake value of the primary tumor, tumor length on PET, number of PET-positive lymph nodes, PET stage, Ki-67 labeling index, intratumoral MVD, and the presence of VEGF expression were significant prognostic predictors for the overall survival. Multivariate analysis revealed that the pathologic stage, number of PET-positive nodes (0, 1, 2, or > or = 3), intratumoral MVD (cutoff, 60/mm(2)), and presence of VEGF expression were independent significant prognostic predictors for overall survival.
CONCLUSION: In addition to the pathologic stage, the intratumoral MVD, the presence of VEGF expression, and the number of FDG-PET-positive nodes were independent prognostic predictors in patients with an esophageal SCC undergoing curative surgery.