Aberrant overexpression of vascular endothelial growth factor in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is associated with aggressive clinical behavior

berrant overexpression of vascular endothelial growth factor in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is associated with aggressive clinical behavior Original Research (3089) Total Article Views Authors: Naomi Y Jiang, Bruce A Woda, Liping Zhang, et al Published Date July 2010 Volume 2010:2 Pages 85 - 90 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/PLMI.S10619 Naomi Y Jiang1, Bruce A Woda2, Liping Zhang2, Suyang Hao2, Karen A Dresser2, Di Lu2 1Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Worcester, MA, USA; 2Department of Pathology, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, MA, USA Abstract: Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. In this study, we studied vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in -pancreatic adenocarcinoma by immunohistochemical staining. Clinical follow-up and survival data were analyzed. We determined that VEGF was aberrantly overexpressed in a subset of primary pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Statistically, VEGF overexpression was associated with higher stage, higher grade, and lymph node metastasis (P < 0.001, P = 0.012, and P < 0.005, respectively). Additionally, patients of this subset had a much shorter overall survival than patients without VEGF overexpression, as evidenced by Kaplan–Meier plots and the log-rank test (P = 0.001). The 5-year overall survival rate was 17% in patients with VEGF overexpression compared to 52% in patients without VEGF overexpression. The median survival was only 13 months for patients with VEGF overexpression compared to 65 months for patients without. In conclusion, VEGF is a biomarker that identifies a subset of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma with aggressive clinical behavior.