Expression of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) in Individuals with Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Esophagus

Authors

  • Aisha Jamil Author
  • Maria Tasneem Khattak Author
  • Shams ul Hadi Author
  • Maria Khan Author
  • Sidra Mashal Author
  • Iqbal Muhammad Khan Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51985/JBUMDC2025809

Keywords:

Expression; vascular endothelial growth factor; Squamous cell carcinoma; esophagus

Abstract

 Objective: The aim of the study was find out the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in individuals with
esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
Study Design and Setting: The current prospective study was carried out at the department of Histopathology, Rehman
College of dentistry / Rehman Medical Institute (RCD/RMI) from July 2024 to December 2024 after taking approval from
the ethical board of the institute.
Methodology: A total of 53 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma samples were collected and placed at -80oC. For culturing,
humidified five percent carbon dioxide in air was used for cells in monolayer culture at 37°C. Esophageal squamous cell
carcinoma tissue samples that were kept at -80°C and EC9706 cells were used to extract total RNA. Gel electrophoresis
was used to assess the quality of the extracted RNA. Immunohistochemistry, RT-PCR and in situ hybridization were used
to find out the VEGF expression. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 16.
Results: Vascular endothelial growth factor was expressed and secreted by EC9706 cells, confirmed by RT-PCR, in situ
hybridization and immunohistochemistry staining. Using in situ hybridization, out of 53 cases with esophageal squamous
cell carcinoma, 39(73.5%) had positive immunohistochemistry for VEGF. The VEGF positive rate for both metastatic and
non-metastatic lymph node patients was 91% (20/22) and 61.2% (19/31) respectively. A significant difference observed
in the VEGF expression between the lymph node-positive and node-negative groups (p<0.05).
Conclusion: This study concluded that in individuals with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, expression of VEGF is
an important and helpful prognostic factor. 

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Published

2026-01-14

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