COX-2, VEGF Expression And Relationship To Angiogenesis In Human Renal Clear Cell Carcinoma

Objective: To investigate the expression of COX-2 and VEGF in renal clearcarcinoma(RCCC) and their correlation with tumor angiogenesis and the prognosticvalue.Method: Evension immunohistochemistry was used to determine the expressionof COX-2 and VEGF, and microvessel density (MVD) marked by CD34 in 80RCCC tissues and 20 normal kidney tissues .The relationship between the abovemarks and the prognostic value were then analyzed.Results:1.. Expressions of COX-2 and VEGF were noted in both RCCC tissues andnormal kidney tissues.The positive rates of COX-2 and VEGF were much higher inRCCC than in normal kidney(P<0.05).2. The expression of COX-2 was correlated with TNM stage(P<0.05) ,histological grade(P<0.05) and lymph node metastasis(P<0.05) in RCCC,but notwith age(P=0.663) and diameter of tuomour(P=0.528). 3.Both COX-2(r=0.851, P﹤0.01) expression and VEGF(r=0.736, P﹤0.01) expression were associated significantly with MVD in RCCC.4..There was a positive correlation between expression of cox-2 and that ofVEGF in RCCC .5.Univariate survival analysis indicated that prognostic of patients with RCCCwas significantly correlated with pathological stage,histological grade,lymph nodemetastasis,expression of COX-2 and VEGF as well as MVD(P<0.05).Cox'proportional hazards model multivariate survival analysis showed that TNM stage andlymph node metastasis can be independent prognostic factor of RCCC.Conclusion: COX-2 is related to tumour angiogenesis in RCCC.It is likely thatVEGF is one of the most important mediators of the COX-2 angiogenic pathway.Cox'proportional hazards model multivariate survival analysis showed thatexpression of COX-2 and VEGF were not independent prognostic factor of RCCC.