BACKGROUNDTo investigate the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its relation to clinical characteristics and prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and to study the possible mechanism of VEGF.

METHODSThe expression of VEGF and intratumoral microvascular density (MVD) were determined in 96 NSCLC tissues by SP immunohistochemical method.

RESULTSVEGF was mainly stained in the cytoplasm of tumor cells. The positive rate of VEGF expression was 64.6% in 96 patients. The positive rate of VEGF expression was related to stages (P=0.041), but not to other clinical characteristics of NSCLC (P > 0.05). The expression of VEGF in high MVD group (80.4%) was significantly higher than that in low MVD group (46.7%) (P=0.001). The patients with positive VEGF expression had a significantly shorter survival duration than those with negative VEGF expression (P < 0.01). By Cox proportional hazard model analysis, the expression of VEGF and clinical stage were considered the independent predictors for the prognosis of NSCLC.

CONCLUSIONSThe results suggest that VEGF plays an important role in the angiogenesis of NSCLC, and that detection of VEGF expression may be helpful to predict prognosis of NSCLC.