Co-elevated expression of hepatocyte growth factor and Interleukin-8 contributes to poor prognosis of patients with primary nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) related tumor angiogenesis and prognosis of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has not been identified. The expressions of HGF and IL-8, as well as microvessels density were evaluated in 127 NPC biopsies by immunohistochemical staining. The correlation between these parameters and patient's clinicopathological features was analyzed statistically. In vitro, IL-8 concentration was evaluated in exogenous HGF-treated NPC cell lines by ELISA assay. The presence of EBV was also detected in NPC cells by PCR for Bam HI-W fragment. Both 54.3% (69/127) cases of HGF high-expression in tumor cells and 80.3% (102/127) of HGF high-expression in stromal cells were significantly associated with increased microvessels density, advanced clinical stage, lymph node metastasis and high-expression of IL-8. Angiogenesis exhibited in relation to overall survival of NPC patients (P=0.001), and the patients with HGF and IL-8 dual high-expression tumors had a significantly worse prognosis than those with single protein high-expression and dual low expression tumors (P=0.011 and P=0.026, respectively). Exogenous HGF was observed to promote induction of IL-8 in NPC cells without EBV infection. Co-operating with IL-8, HGF might contribute to a poor prognosis of NPC by inducing angiogenesis through both autocrine and paracrine EBV-independent pathways.