Expression And Clinical Significance Of S100A4 And VEGF In Pancreatic Carcinoma

Aim: To investigate the expression of VEGF and calcium-binding protein S100A4 in pancreatic cancer and their relationship to the clinicopathological parameters and prognosis of pancreatic cancer.Methods: The expression status of S100A4 was examined in 62 surgical specimens of primary pancreatic cancer and 13 specimens of chronic pancreatitis and 29 specimens of normal pancreas with immunohistochemistry SP method, and The expression status of VEGF was also examined in 62 surgical specimens of primary pancreatic cancer by immunohistochemistry. Correlation between the expression of VEGF and S100A4 and clinicopathological parameters in pancreatic cancer was analyzed.Results:1. Positive expression of S100A4 was not detected in the specimens of chronic pancreatitis and normal pancreas.2. Thirty-eight of 62 (61.3%) specimens of primary pancreatic cancer were positive for S100A4. Thirty-seven (59.7%) specimens showed positive expression of VEGF. The positive correlation of S100A4 and VEGF expression was significant in the cancer tissues (p<0.001).3. The S100A4 expression showed significant correlation with tumor size, the TNM stage and poorer prognosis. The VEGF expression showed significant correlation with poorer prognosis.4. The 17 cases with S100A4-negative/ VEGF-negative cancers showed significantly better prognoses than the others (p<0.05).5. Distant metastasis (p=0.048), S100A4-positive expression (p=0.011) and VEGF-positive expression (p=0.011) were highly significant independent prognostic predictors (p<0.05).Conclusion: Our results suggest that the over-expressions of S100A4 and VEGF play important roles in tumor development in pancreatic cancer. The combined examination of these two molecules might be useful in evaluating the outcome of patients with pancreatic cancer.