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VEGF correlates with metastasis in colorectal cancer

Microvessel counts and metastases in colorectal cancer¹

Tanigawa et al showed that increased microvessel counts were significantly correlated with hematogenous metastasis in patients with colorectal cancer, indicating the importance of angiogenesis in the growth and spread of the disease. The bars show the percentage of metastasis in which microvessel counts were increased (purple bars, lymph node metastasis; white bars, peritoneal metastasis; gray bars, hematogenous metastasis).¹

Reprinted with permission from the American Association for Cancer Research. Tanigawa N, Amaya H, Matsumura M, et al. Cancer Res. 1997;57:1043-1046.

A number of studies evaluating patient tumor tissue now propose that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression and angiogenesis may be strong predictors of both metastasis and prognosis in colorectal cancer. In one analysis of 133 primary colorectal tumors, Tanigawa and colleagues observed that microvessel count was significantly correlated with hematogenous metastasis.¹ Similarly, Ishigami et al demonstrated that VEGF expression was significantly correlated with depth of tumor infiltration (P=0.046), liver metastasis (P<0.0001), and lymph node metastasis (P=0.036). Based on the results of this study, the investigators concluded "VEGF is associated with progression, invasion, and metastasis of colorectal cancer…"²

VEGF mRNA expression in patients with multiple metastases vs patients with 1 metastasis³

A 2006 study by Kuramochi et al examined VEGF expression levels in primary tumors and liver metastases in patients with advanced colorectal cancer. In both the primary tumors and in liver metastases, significantly higher levels of VEGF mRNA were seen in patients with multiple liver metastases than in patients with only 1 metastasis. This difference suggests that VEGF may be associated with liver metastases in colorectal cancer.³

Reprinted with permission from the American Association for Cancer Research. Kuramochi H, Hayashi K, Uchida K, et al. Clin Cancer Res. 2006;12:29-33.

VEGF overexpression may be associated specifically with liver metastases, the main cause of death for most patients with colorectal cancer. Recent work by Kuramochi and colleagues suggests that VEGF expression in primary colorectal cancer may predict the risk of multiple liver metastases. The researchers evaluated mRNA expression of VEGF in matched samples of primary tumors and their corresponding liver metastases from 31 patients with colorectal cancer. They found that VEGF mRNA levels were higher, both in the primary tumor and in the liver metastases, in patients who had multiple liver metastases than in patients who had only one liver metastasis. Additional research is needed to confirm this finding.³

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References:

1.

Tanigawa N, Amaya H, Matsumura M, et al. Cancer Res. 1997;57:1043-1046.

2.

Ishigami SI, Arii S, Furutani M, et al. Br J Cancer. 1998;78:1379-1384.

3.

Kuramochi H, Hayashi K, Uchida K, et al. Clin Cancer Res. 2006;12:29-33.