Prognostic significance of VEGF and its receptors in endometrioid endometrial cancer.

Angiogenesis is of crucial importance for endometrial tumor growth and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) is the key mediator of angiogenesis. The purpose of our study was to assess the prognostic value of VEGF and its receptors in relation to endometrioid endometrial carcinomas. In this study we conducted an immunohistochemical evaluation of VEGF and VEGFRs expression in 84 tissue samples obtained from endometrioid endometrial cancer patients undergoing curative surgical treatment. Out of 84 cancers, strong positive expression of VEGF was seen in 35 (42%) tumors. The overall strong positive rates were 33% for VEGFR-1 and for 15% for VEGFR-2. There was a significant correlation between clinical stage and VEGF and VEGFR-1 overexpression (p=0.027 and p=0.004, respectively). Additionally there was a significant correlation between histological grade and VEGF and VEGFR-1 overexpression (p<0.001 and p<0.01, respectively). The 5-year DFS of patients with VEGF and VEGFR-1 overexpression was significantly lower than that of those with a weakly positive or negative tumor (p<0.001). Immunohistochemical evaluation of VEGF and VEGFR-1 overexpression may be a useful marker for predicting 5-year DFS in endometrioid endometrial cancer.