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. 2016 Aug 3;17(2):165–170. doi: 10.3233/CBM-160627

Overexpression of VEGF-C correlates with a poor prognosis in esophageal cancer patients

Haifeng Xia a,1, Ji Shen b,1, Shaomu Chen a, Haitao Huang a, Yaozeng Xu b, Haitao Ma a,*
PMCID: PMC13020484  PMID: 27540974

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

The prognostic value of vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) in patients with esophageal cancer (EC) remains controversial. The aim of this meta-analysis was to clarify the association of VEGF-C with survival in EC patients.

METHODS:

We performed a meta-analysis that included eligible studies to expound the effect of VEGF-C in EC survival. Eligible studies published until November 2015 was identified using available databases. STATA 12.0 was performed in this meta-analysis.

RESULTS:

We identified 13 studies, including 1203 patients, in this meta-analysis. The combined hazard ratio of 1.70 (95% CI, 1.43-2.03, P < 0.001) shows that VEGF-C overexpression was significantly correlated with poor overall survival in EC patients. Furthermore, the results suggested a significant relationship between VEGF-C expression and overall survival was also showed in studies with patient source, patient number ≥ 70, methods detecting VEGF-C by reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) or ELISA and histology type. Moreover, combined odds ratio of VEGF-C displayed that VEGF-C overexpression was significantly association with stage, depth of tumor invasion, lymph node status and metastasis of EC (P < 0.05). However, it has no correlation with differentiation degree of EC (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSION:

VEGF-C overexpression shows an unfavorable prognosis for EC patients.

Keywords: VEGF-C, prognosis, esophageal cancer, meta-analysis

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