Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) Expression in Normal, Dysplastic and Neoplastic Squamous Epithelium of Oral Mucosa

BACKGROUND: VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) is one of the growth factors, which directly affects vascular endothelial cells and evokes proliferation, migration and chemotaxis of endothelial cells. Studies have provided inconsistent results about the expression of VEGF in the squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) or oral mucosa. The purpose of the present study was to assess the frequency of VEGF expression in oral normal, dysplastic and SCC mucosa METHODS: In this analytical-descriptive study, formalin fixed and paraffin embedded tissue of 20 normal mucosa, 20 dysplastic mucosa, and 20 SCC were studied for the expression of VEGF, using immunohistochemical technique and standard Biotin Streptavidin method. The results were analyzed by Kruscal Wallis and Mann Whitney tests. RESULTS: The mean expression of VEGF in SCC was 24.65, 16.35 in dysplastic mucosa and 15.5 in normal mucosa. VEFG expression was significantly higher in the SCC group as compared to the dysplastic group (p=0.02) or normal group (P=0.001). On the other hand, there was no difference in the VEGF expression between the dysplatic mucosa and normal mucosa groups (p=0.11) CONCLUSION: VEGF expression is significantly higher in the SCC group as compared to dysplastic and normal mucosa. Our results highlight the importance of vascular development in the development of SCC or oral mucosa and suggest possible therapeutic modalities targeted to VEGF and/or vascular development. Conflict of Interest: None declared This article has been peer reviewed. Article Submitted on: 1 December 2013 Article Accepted on: 20 February 2014 Funding Sources: None Declared Correspondence to: Dr Dana Tahririan Address: Oral and Maxilla Facial Pathology Department, Dental School Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran Email: dana_tahririan @yahoo.com Cite this article: Torabinia N, Razavi SM, Tahririan D. Vascular endothelial growth factor expression in normal, dysplastic and neoplastic squamous epithelium of oral mucosa. J Pioneer Med Sci. 2014; 4(3):115118 endothelial cells, and helps in chemotaxis of macrophages and granulocytes. Since malignant cells are rapidly dividing cells and nutrients are required in higher quantities, neovascularization, possibly via the overexpression of VEGF is needed. Previous studies have shown that VEGF is the main factor in neovascularization leading to tumor growth and metastasis [4-7]. Studies have shown that, as compared to normal squamous epithelium, the dysplastic and neoplastic mucosa have high expression of VEGF [8,9]; while other studies have found little or no correlation between VEGF expression and vascularity in oral cancers [10,11,12]. In order to examine the association between VEGF overexpression and malignant SCC, we INTRODUCTION Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is by far the most common malignancy of head and neck region with an estimated 5-year survival rate of 40% upon diagnosis. Multifactorial etiology has made this sinister pathology a poor candidate for therapy, with an added burden of poor quality of life despite treatment [1,2]. The characterization of molecular targets involved in initiation, progression and metastasis of SCC can play a vital role in devising the future therapeutics based on these oncotargets [3]. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a protein, which directly affects vascular endothelial cells, stimulates the proliferation of