Differences of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression between liver and abdominal metastases from colon cancer. Implications for the treatment with VEGF inhibitors

The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a central role in promoting angiogenesis, and it is the target of innovative anti-cancer therapies. In colorectal carcinomas, differences in the VEGF expression have been found between the primary tumor and its metastases. We postulated that differences in the VEGF expression may also exist between liver and abdominal metastases from colon cancer. Consecutive colon cancer patients with liver or abdominal metastases were considered eligible for the study. Biopsies had to be performed before chemotherapy and the VEGF analysis were conducted through immunohistochemistry. The staining results were correlated to the metastatic pattern. The study population consisted of 41 patients with a metastatic site in the liver in 19 patients and the abdomen in 22 patients. A positive VEGF staining was found in 19 of the 41 metastatic samples (46%). Cases with positive VEGF expression were found more frequently in abdominal (15 out of 22 patients; 68%) than in liver metastases (4 out of 19 patients; 21%). Also, the degree of VEGF immunoreactivity was significantly higher in abdominal than in liver metastases. Evidence is supported that the VEGF expression may be different between colon cancer metastatic sites. The efficacy of anti-VEGF treatments may depend on the VEGF expression status, and this finding deserves further investigation.