1. Overexpression of lymphangiogenic growth factor VEGF-C in human pancreatic cancer.
- Author
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Tang RF, Itakura J, Aikawa T, Matsuda K, Fujii H, Korc M, and Matsumoto Y
- Subjects
- Blotting, Northern, Humans, Immunoblotting, Immunohistochemistry, Lymphatic Metastasis, Neoplasm Invasiveness, Pancreas chemistry, Pancreatic Neoplasms pathology, Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases analysis, Receptors, Growth Factor analysis, Survival Rate, Tumor Cells, Cultured, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-3, Endothelial Growth Factors genetics, Pancreatic Neoplasms chemistry, RNA, Messenger analysis
- Abstract
Vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) is a lymphangiogenic polypeptide that has been implicated in cancer growth. In this study, we characterized VEGF-C expression in cultured human pancreatic cancer cell lines and determined whether the presence of VEGF-C in human pancreatic cancers is associated with clinicopathologic characteristics. VEGF-C mRNA transcripts were present in all five tested cell lines (Capan-1, MIA-PaCa-2, PANC-1, COLO-357, and T3M4). Immunoblotting with a highly specific anti-VEGF-C antibody revealed the presence of VEGF-C protein in all the cell lines. Northern blot analysis of total RNA revealed an approximately 2.2-fold increase in VEGF-C mRNA transcript in the cancer samples compared with the normal pancreas. Immunohistochemical analysis confirmed the expression of VEGF-C and its receptor flt-4 in the cancer cells within the tumor mass. Immunohistochemical analysis of 51 pancreatic cancer tissues revealed the presence of strong VEGF-C immunoreactivity in the cancer cells in 80.4% of the cancer tissues. The presence of VEGF-C in these cells was associated with increased lymphatic vessels invasion and lymph node metastasis, but not with decreased patient survival. These findings indicate that VEGF-C and its receptor are commonly overexpressed in human pancreatic cancers and that this factor may contribute to the lymphangiogenic process and metastasis in this disorder.
- Published
- 2001
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