Expression and clinical significance of VEGF and DLL4 in hepatocellular carcinoma

Objective To explore the expression of VEGF and DLL4 in hepato cellular carci-noma tissues.Methods Expressions of VEGF and DLL4 in 75 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma tis-sues and 30 cases of normal hepatocellular mucosa tissues were detected by immunohistochemical SP method.Results The masculine expression rates of VEGF and DLL4 in hepatocellular carcinoma tis-sues were 64.0% and 81.3% respectively.The positive expression rates of VEGF and DLL4 in hepa-tocellular carcinoma were higher than those in normal hepatocellular mucosa.Expressions of VEGF and DLL4 in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues were associated with vascular invasion and tumor numbers(P<0.05),but not with gender,age,liver cirrhosis,the diameter of tumor and the histological differen-tiation(P >0.05 ).The VEGF expression rate in DLL4 positive expression cases was significantly higher than DLL4 negative cases.VEGF had a positive correlation with DLL4 (r =0.217,P <0.05). Conclusion The expressions of VEGF and DLL4 in hepatocellular carcinoma and normal tissues are different.The increased expression of VEFG in hepatocellular carcinoma is closely related to DLL4 and they probably play an important role in tumor angiogenesis.