High expressions of vascular endothelial growth factor and platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor predict poor prognosis in alpha-fetoprotein-negative hepatocellular carcinoma patients after curative resection

Purpose  To evaluate the prognosis value of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor (PD-ECGF) in alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)-negative hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients after curative resection. Methods  Tumor tissue microarrays (TMAs) were used to detect the expressions of VEGF and PD-ECGF in consecutive 162 AFP-negative HCC patients undergoing curative resection between 1997 and 2000 in our institute. Clinicopathologic data for these patients were evaluated. The prognostic significance was assessed using Kaplan–Meier survival estimates and log-rank tests. Multivariate study with Cox’s proportional hazard model was used to evaluate the prognosis-related aspects. Results  The positive rates of VEGF and PD-ECGF in tumor tissues were 59.9% (97/162) and 62.3% (101/162), respectively. Univariate analysis showed that VEGF and PD-ECGF were prognostic factors for relapse-free survival (P = 0.034 and P = 0.033, respectively). Multivariate analyses demonstrated that the co-index (VEGF/PD-ECGF) was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival and relapse-free survival (P = 0.002 and P = 0.000, respectively). Conclusion  The co-index of VEGF and PD-ECGF is a promising independent predictor for recurrence and survival of AFP-negative HCC patients after curative resection. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. J. Hu, Y. Xu and Z.-Z. Shen have contributed equally to this work.