Objective: To study the expression of placental growth factor (PlGF) and pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) in non-small cell lung cancer, explore the possible role of these factors in the process of neovascular forming, and understand the predict function of these factors to verdict non-small cell lung cancer patients' prognosis.
Methods: Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of PlGF and PEDF in 81 surgical specimens of non-small cell lung cancer from patients. CD31 immunohistochemical staining was used to measure the microvessel density (MVD) so as to investigate the microvessel forming status. The association of these two factors with MVD and their predictive function for the prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer were analyzed.
Results: The positive rates of PlGF and PEDF in the non-small cell lung cancer specimens were 43.2% (35/81) and 53.1% (43/81) respectively. There was a positive relationship between PlGF positive expression and MVD, and a negative relationship between PEDF positive expression and MVD. Furthermore, there was a negative correlation between PlGF and PEDF expression. PlGF was an independent prognostic factor in both univariate and multivariate analysis.
Conclusion: PlGF and PEDF are expressed in non-small cell lung cancer. They are antagonistic to each other in the process of neovessels forming. PlGF plays a more important role in the progression of non-small cell lung cancer and prediction of its prognosis compared with PEDF.