Study Of Circulating Endothelial Cells And Angiogenesis Related Cytokines In Peripheral Blood Of Tumor Patients

Angiogenesis, the formation of new capillary vessels, is an essential step in tumor growth and matastasis.It has been thought that the angiogenesis is the migration and proliferation of existing endothelial cells within vascular endothelium. Now it has been found the recruitment and homing of circulating endothelial cells (CECs) or their progenitors (CEPs) released from the bone marrow is very important in tumor angiogenesis. We detected the CECs and CEPs in 64 PB (peripheral blood) of tumor patients. We found the amount of CECs and CEPs is higher in tumor patients than normal controls.Using of G-CSF/GM-CSF can mobilize the CEC/CEP. The amount of CECs/CEPs is correlated with the serum level of VEGF> VCAM-K 1CAM-1 > bFGF, which indicate that these cytokines are related to CEC/CEP mobilization.The CEPs can differentiate into mature endothelial cells in vitro which is testified by electron microscope and immunohistochemistry.We also detected the serum level of VEGF, VCAM-1, ICAM-1 and bFGF in 95 tumor patients. We found the level of the factors is higher in tumor patients than in normal controls. And it is correlated with the lymph node status and tumor matastasis. We found the expression of VEGF gene is higher in lung cancer tissue than in adjacent tissue by quantitative RT-PCR method. We detected the endothelial cells and expression of VEGF using IHC (immunohistochemistry) method. MVD is not correlated with VEGF or CEC/CEP. The expression level of VEGF in tumor tissue is correlated with the serum level of VEGF.We testified the existing of CECs and CEPs in PB. The CEPs candifferentiate and expand into mature endothelial cells. And CECs / CEPs and VEGF are helpful in tumor matastasis, prognosis and gene therapy research.