AB188. Vasohibin-1 and microvessel density predict prognosis in clear cell renal cell carcinoma

Objective: To investigate the expression of vasohibin-1(VASH-1) and microvessel density (MVD) marked with CD34 in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) and analyze their correlations with prognosis.

Methods: From January 2006 to December 2008, the clinical and pathologic data of 79 patients with ccRCC were retrospectively analyzed. Expressions of VASH-1 and CD34 in their tissue samples were detected by immunohistochemical (IHC) staining. For VASH-1 assessment, the staining intensity of positive tumor cells were evaluated semi-quantitatively and measured by Average Optical Density (AOD) for further analysis. The microvessel density (MVD) was counted using Weidner’s method. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 19.0.

Results: The AOD of VASH1 in the 79 cancer tissues was 0.0435±0.0178. The MVD value marked by CD34 in the 79 cancer tissues was (55±34) profiles/HPF. The expression of MVD and VASH1 significantly varied with tumor stages and necrosis presence (P<0.05). Assessed by Spearman’s correlation, the expression of VASH1 was negatively associated with MVD (r=−0.641, P<0.05). The overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) in ccRCC patients with high VASH1 expression were significantly worse than those low VASH1 expression (P<0.05).The multivariate analysis showed that age, tumor stage and necrosis presence were significantly correlated to OS and RFS in ccRCC patients.

Conclusions: VASH1 is potentially valuable in prognostic evaluation of ccRCC.

Keywords: Kidney neoplasms; vasohibin-1 (VASH-1); microvessel density (MVD); prognosis