Fahredin Veselaj^1*, Suzana Manxhuka-Kerliu², Arber Neziri¹, Labinot Shahini², Shefki Xharra³, Liridon Selmani¹, Lloreta Kerliu⁴, Floren Kavaja⁵

¹Clinic of Urology, UCC of Kosovo, Prishtina, Kosovo; ²Department of Pathology, UCC of Kosovo, Prishtina, Kosovo; ³Regional Hospital, Prizren, Kosovo; ⁴Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS), 179 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA; ⁵Clinic of Surgery, UCC of Kosovo, Prishtina, Kosovo

BACKGROUND: Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC) is the most predominant renal tumour with unpredictable tumour behaviour. The aim of the study is to investigate the prognostic value of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) expression in CCRCC and to correlate it with other histological parameters as well as with patient's survival.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Tumour blocks were taken from 40 patients with histopathology diagnosis of CCRCC and tissue block from 20 normal kidneys as a control group were examined using the immuno-histochemical staining for VEGF-A.

RESULTS: The VEGF A expression in CCRCC was significantly higher than in the normal kidney tissues (U’ = 720, P < 0.0001). VEGF A expression values in CCRCC were positively correlated with Disease Free Survival (r = 0.335, P = 0.034) and the tumor necrosis degree (r = 0.181, P = 0.262). VEGF-A expression values in CCRCC did not correlate with CD 31 expression (r = -0.09, P = 0.549), and Progression Free Survival (r = -0.07, P = 0.838). VEGF A expression values in CCRCC were negatively correlated with the tumor nuclear grade (r = -0.161, P = 0.318); the pathological tumor stage (r = -0.371, P = 0.018); the tumor size (r = -0.361, P = 0.022); the degree of tumor hemorrhage (r = -0.235, P = 0.143); and Cancer Specific Survival (r = -0.207, P = 0.713).

Citation: Veselaj F, Manxhuka-Kerliu S, Neziri A, Shahini L, Xharra S, Selmani L, Kerliu L, Kavaja F. Prognostic Value of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A in the Prediction of the Tumor Aggressiveness in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma. Open Access Maced J Med Sci. https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2017.035
Keywords: Clear cell RCC; Angiogenesis; VEGF-A; prognostic factors.
*Correspondence: Fahredin Veselaj. Clinic of Urology, UCC of Kosovo, Prishtina, Kosovo. E-mail: fahredin_veselaj@yahoo.com, vitahospital@yahoo.com
Received: 09-Feb-2017; Revised: 10-Mar-2017; Accepted: 12-Mar-2017; Online first: 10-Apr-2017
Copyright: © 2017 Fahredin Veselaj, Suzana Manxhuka-Kerliu, Arber Neziri, Labinot Shahini, Shefki Xharra, Liridon Selmani, Lloreta Kerliu, Floren Kavaja. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).
Funding: This research did not receive any financial support.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
 

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