Vascular endothelial growth factor expression and vascular density in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC): A study on clinical and histopathologic significance

Background: New blood vessels formation is a critical step in tumor progression. Vascular density affects the clinical outcome and prognosis of malignant tumors. The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between the Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) expression and vascular density with the clinical and histopathologic features in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Methods: In this retrospective study, 22 paraffin embedded block of well-differentiated OSCC were examined immunohistochemically for VEGF expression. Vascular density was determined by counting the blood vessels in 6 fields with 100 (HPF) on hematoxylin-eosin stained slides. The relation between the VEGF expression and vascular density with clinical and histopathologic features were analyzed by t-test, ANOVA, and Chi-square tests. Results: A significant relation between gender (P=0.06) and tumor size (p=0.05) with vascular density was obtained. The relation between VEGF expression and gender (p=0.41), age (p=0.35), lymph node involvement (p=0.38), tumor size (p=0.15) and tumor differentiation (p=0.34) was not significant. The relation between vascular density and age (p=0.55), lymph node involvement (p=0.20), and tumor differentiation (p=0.80) was not significant. Conclusion: Blood vessels formation relates to tumor size. Controlling the tumor size by manipulating the blood vessels formation may contribute to the inhibition of tumor progression in malignant tumors.