RESUMO

INTRODUCTION: Angiogenesis is essential for the local growth, invasion and metastasis of the tumours. Vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) play a crucial role in tumour angiogenesis. The aim of our study was to quantify the expression of several VEGF family molecules in human gastro-oesophageal cancers and to analyse possible correlations between genes expression and clinico-pathological features. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Gene expression was quantified in 43 gastro-oesophageal paired samples using qRT-PCR with TaqMan probes specific to VEGF-A, including soluble transcript variants and VEGF-B genes. RESULTS: VEGF-A, including the studied splice variants and VEGF-B mRNAs were expressed in both tumour and peritumour mucosa. The expression of VEGF-A and its isoforms was higher in tumour compared with paired peritumour mucosa, while no significant difference was observed in VEGF-B expression. VEGF-A expression tended to correlate with tumour invasion. CONCLUSION: VEGF-A has a tendency to over-express in gastro-oesophageal cancers, while VEGF-B does not seem involved in these tumours. Further studies are required to establish the utility of anti-VEGF-A therapy and to find biomarkers for pathogenesis or response to therapy in gastro-oesophageal tumours.

Assuntos

Adenocarcinoma/genética , Neoplasias Esofágicas/genética , Neoplasias Gástricas/genética , Fator A de Crescimento do Endotélio Vascular/genética , Fator B de Crescimento do Endotélio Vascular/genética , Adenocarcinoma/metabolismo , Idoso , Neoplasias Esofágicas/metabolismo , Feminino , Mucosa Gástrica/metabolismo , Mucosa Gástrica/patologia , Regulação Neoplásica da Expressão Gênica , Humanos , Mucosa Intestinal/metabolismo , Mucosa Intestinal/patologia , Masculino , Análise por Pareamento , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , RNA Mensageiro/metabolismo , Neoplasias Gástricas/metabolismo , Fator A de Crescimento do Endotélio Vascular/metabolismo , Fator B de Crescimento do Endotélio Vascular/metabolismo