VEGF gene expression in papillary thyroid carcinoma and its association with prognostic factors

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) induces proliferation of endothelial cells and angiogenesis. VEGF overexpression has been associated with poor clinical outcome in many malignancies. Also, several studies have reported increased expression of VEGF in papillary thyroid carcinoma. So, present study aimed to evaluate VEGF expression and its association with prognostic markers in papillary thyroid carcinoma.

In this cross-sectional study, totally 80 formalin fixed- paraffin embedded samples from papillary thyroid carcinoma patients referred to Shahid Mostafa Khomeini hospital, Tehran during 2017 to 2021 were immunohistochemically stained by VEGF marker. VEGF expression intensity in tumor cells scored as mild (Less than 25%), moderate (25-50%) and strong (more than 50%). Relation between VEGF expression grade with age, gender, tumor size, capsular invasion and lymph node metastasis was analyzed by SPSS software version 16.

Average of patient's age was 40.56±14.48 years and 58 patients (72.5%) were female. Mild, moderate and severe expression of VEGF was seen in 21.3%, 35% and 43.8% respectively. There was no significant relationship between VEGF expression with age, gender and tumor size. Increased expression of VEGF was significantly associated with increased rate of capsular invasion and lymph node metastasis (P<0.001).

VEGF overexpression is frequently seen in papillary thyroid carcinoma. Increased expression of VEGF is an independent prognostic factor for capsular invasion and lymph node metastasis and could be considered as a poor prognostic and potential therapeutic factor in papillary thyroid carcinoma.