Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor-C (VEGF-C) in gastric carcinoma and tumor lymphangiogenesis and to determine the effect of antisense-VEGF-C gene transfection on proliferation.
Methods: Adjacent cancer tissues were collected from 72 gastric carcinoma cases and compared with 10 nongastric carcinoma tissues to detect the expression of VEGF-C and its messenger RNA (mRNA) and calculate the density of neonatal lymphatic microvessels. The in vitro-cultured gastric cancer cell line SGC-7901 was transfected with recombinant plasmid pCI-neo-anti VEGF-C. The expression in the transfected cells and the proliferation were determined.
Results: The positive rate of VEGF-C mRNA in the lymph node metastasis tissues was 85.7% compared with negative controls (20%, P < .05). The density of lymphatic vessels in the metastasis group was 6.65 ± 1.57 compared with the negative group (3.75 ± 1.47, P < .05). Protein and mRNA of VEGF-C were reduced in transfected cells. Proliferation was inhibited as well.
Conclusions: VEGF-C can increase the invasiveness of gastric cancer and promote lymphangiogenesis in adjacent tissues. Transfection with antisense VEGF-C can reduce the expression of VEGF-C and inhibit the proliferation. VEGF-C can inhibit the tumor growth and reduce its metastasis and recurrence.
Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.