BACKGROUND: The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is involved in the growth of cancer cells through angiogenesis. At present the role of VEGF-B has not been clarified completely. We investigated correlations of the expression of VEGF-B and its isoforms, VEGF-B167 and VEGF-B186, by alternative splicing in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with the pathological findings and prognosis. METHODS: Forty-eight patients with HCC were investigated. We examined the mRNA expression of total VEGF-B, VEGF-B167 and VEGF-B186 in primary HCC and non-cancerous tissues using quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis. RESULTS: In 16 (33.3%) of 48 HCCs, the expression of total VEGF-B increased compared with the corresponding non-cancerous liver tissues. Regarding the isoforms, the expression of VEGF-B167 and VEGF-B186 was increased in 17 (35.4%) of 48 and 33 (68.75%) of 48 HCCs, respectively. Cases with high expression level of total VEGF-B in HCC significantly correlated with the advanced pathological stage (P < 0.018), tumor multiplicity (P < 0.033), vascular invasion (P < 0.045) and lack of capsule formation (P < 0.027). The result in VEGF-B167 was similar to total VEGF-B. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicated that the expression of VEGF-B is correlated with tumor growth and invasiveness in HCC. VEGF-B167 seemed to be the clinically dominant isoform.
BACKGROUND: The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is involved in the growth of cancer cells through angiogenesis. At present the role of VEGF-B has not been clarified completely. We investigated correlations of the expression of VEGF-B and its isoforms, VEGF-B167 and VEGF-B186, by alternative splicing in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with the pathological findings and prognosis. METHODS: Forty-eight patients with HCC were investigated. We examined the mRNA expression of total VEGF-B, VEGF-B167 and VEGF-B186 in primary HCC and non-cancerous tissues using quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis. RESULTS: In 16 (33.3%) of 48 HCCs, the expression of total VEGF-B increased compared with the corresponding non-cancerous liver tissues. Regarding the isoforms, the expression of VEGF-B167 and VEGF-B186 was increased in 17 (35.4%) of 48 and 33 (68.75%) of 48 HCCs, respectively. Cases with high expression level of total VEGF-B in HCC significantly correlated with the advanced pathological stage (P < 0.018), tumor multiplicity (P < 0.033), vascular invasion (P < 0.045) and lack of capsule formation (P < 0.027). The result in VEGF-B167 was similar to total VEGF-B. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicated that the expression of VEGF-B is correlated with tumor growth and invasiveness in HCC. VEGF-B167 seemed to be the clinically dominant isoform.
Authors: Abby B Siegel; Shuang Wang; Judith S Jacobson; Dawn L Hershman; Emerson A Lim; Jeanette Yu; Lauren Ferrante; Kalpana M Devaraj; Helen Remotti; Shannon Scrudato; Karim Halazun; Jean Emond; Lorna Dove; Robert S Brown; Alfred I Neugut Journal: Cancer Invest Date: 2010-12 Impact factor: 2.176
Authors: Melanie B Thomas; Deborah Jaffe; Michael M Choti; Jacques Belghiti; Steven Curley; Yuman Fong; Gregory Gores; Robert Kerlan; Phillipe Merle; Bert O'Neil; Ronnie Poon; Lawrence Schwartz; Joel Tepper; Francis Yao; Daniel Haller; Margaret Mooney; Alan Venook Journal: J Clin Oncol Date: 2010-08-02 Impact factor: 44.544
Authors: Zhihong Xu; Alain Vonlaufen; Phoebe A Phillips; Eva Fiala-Beer; Xuguo Zhang; Lu Yang; Andrew V Biankin; David Goldstein; Romano C Pirola; Jeremy S Wilson; Minoti V Apte Journal: Am J Pathol Date: 2010-10-07 Impact factor: 4.307
Authors: Abby B Siegel; Emerson A Lim; Shuang Wang; William Brubaker; Rosa D Rodriguez; Abhishek Goyal; Judith S Jacobson; Dawn L Hershman; Elizabeth C Verna; Jonah Zaretsky; Karim Halazun; Lorna Dove; Robert S Brown; Alfred I Neugut; Tomoaki Kato; Helen Remotti; Yael J Coppleson; Jean C Emond Journal: Transplantation Date: 2012-09-15 Impact factor: 4.939