TY - JOUR T1 - Expression and Prognostic Impact of VEGF, CD31 and αSMA in Resected Primary Lung Cancers JF - Anticancer Research JO - Anticancer Res SP - 4057 LP - 4063 DO - 10.21873/anticanres.12695 VL - 38 IS - 7 AU - KATSUO USUDA AU - SYUN IWAI AU - AIKA FUNASAKI AU - ATSUSHI SEKIMURA AU - NOZOMU MOTONO AU - YOSHIMITI UEDA AU - MIYAKO SHIMAZAKI AU - HIDETAKA URAMOTO Y1 - 2018/07/01 UR - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/38/7/4057.abstract N2 - Background/Aim: One of the most important factors concerning cancer growth is angiogenesis. The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship of maturation of tumor vessels and prognosis of lung cancer. Materials and Methods: Immunohistochemical stainings of 125 lung cancers for VEGF, CD31 and α-smooth muscle actin (αSMA) were scored by multiplying the intensity and the frequency from 0 to 12. Results: Adenocarcinomas showed significantly higher staining scores of both VEGF and αSMA than squamous cell carcinomas did. In 42 cases of high CD31 score, five-year survival rate (87%) of patients with lung cancer showing mature tumor vessels was significantly better than that (69%) of patients with immature tumor vessels. Conclusion: Not the number of tumor vessels but their maturation may be a prognostic factor of patients with lung cancer. VEGF may not only stimulate proliferation of endothelial cells but also their maturation in differentiated lung cancers. ER -