VEGF-A clinical significance in gastric cancers: Immunohistochemical analysis of a wide Italian cohort

PurposeThe clinical significance of VEGF-A expression in gastric cancer (GC) has been reported with contradicting results. We analyzed the expression and clinical significance of VEGF-A in a wide Italian cohort of GC specimens.MethodsVEGF-A expression was tested by immunohistochemistry in 507 patients with GC of all clinical stages. The impact of VEGF-A on overall survival (OS) was evaluated in conjunction with clinical and pathological parameters.ResultsIn the Italian cohort we studied VEGF-A was not an independent prognostic factor neither at the univariate nor at multivariate analysis.ConclusionsAlthough frequently expressed, in our study VEGF-A was not able to discriminate between groups of patients with different risk.