Expression of VEGF and its receptors Flt and KDR in gastric cancer

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the correlation between the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), the expression of its receptors, Flt and KDR, and the biological behavior of gastric cancer. METHODS: Sixty cases of gastric cancer that had been diagnosed by surgery and pathology were studied with the method of semiquantitative reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), to determine the expression of VEGF, Flt and KDR in gastric cancer tissue. RESULTS: The positive rates of VEGF, Flt and KDR in gastric cancer were 73.3, 86.7 and 80.0%, respectively. In pericancerous tissue, the rates were 43.3, 33.0 and 30.0%, respectively. There were significant differences between the groups with and without lymph node metastasis (P < 0.01). For gastric cancer patients with lymphatic metastasis, the positive rates for VEGF, Flt and KDR were 90.3, 80.6 and 96.8%, respectively; for patients without lymphatic metastasis, the rates were 51.7, 41.3 and 55.1%; there were significant differences between the groups with and without lymph node metastasis (P < 0.01). The positive rates of VEGF and KDR in well-differentiated gastric cancer were 40.0 and 46.7%, markedly lower than those of the poorly differentiated and undifferentiated gastric cancer groups. The rate of positive expression of Flt in the well-differentiated gastric cancer group was 73.3%. There was no significant difference between this rate and that of the poorly differentiated and undifferentiated groups (87.5%). The positive expression of VEGF, Flt and KDR was unrelated to the depth of infiltration. CONCLUSIONS: There are some correlations between VEGF, Flt and KDR and the biological behavior of gastric cancer. Knowing where they are expressed at high rates may be of help in evaluating the prognosis of gastric cancer.