Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and microvessel density in oral tumorigenesis

CONTEXT: Significant increase in vascularity occurs during the transition from normal oral mucosa, through differing degrees of dysplasia, to invasive squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). AIMS: To evaluate microvessel density (MVD) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in oral tumorigenesis and correlate it with the clinicopathological characteristics. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: VEGF expression and MVD were quantified immunohistochemically using anti-VEGF and anti-CD34 antibody. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For this study we used a total of 60 archival specimens, including 10 normal oral mucosa (NOM), 7 mild epithelial dysplasia (Mild ED), 8 moderate epithelial dysplasia (Mod ED), 5 severe epithelial dysplasia (SED), 14 well-differentiated SCC, 11 moderately-differentiated SCC, and 5 poorly-differentiated SCC. VEGF expression was assessed in relation to the localization, intensity, and area of the immunohistochemically stained cells. MVD was evaluated using the Image-Pro(®) Plus software. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: One-way ANOVA (F test) was carried out for comparing the parameters for multiple groups such as different histopathological grades of dysplasia and carcinoma. Comparison between groups was carried out using the Student's ‘t’ test. Correlations between VEGF score and MVD were estimated using the Karl Pearson coefficient of correlation. RESULTS: VEGF and MVD appeared to increase with disease progression and were statistically higher in oral SCC than in epithelial dysplasia and normal buccal mucosa. There was significant correlation between VEGF expression and MVD. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that VEGF expression is upregulated during head and neck tumorigenesis.