OBJECTIVE

The roles of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in tumor angiogenesis is related with Ets family. Elf-1, a member of Ets family, has seldom been studied. This study aimed to investigate the expression of Elf-1 and VEGF in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and explore their correlations to clinicopathologic features of NSCLC.

METHODS

Tissue microarray containing 69 specimens of NSCLC and six specimens of normal lung tissues was constructed. The expression of Elf-1 and VEGF was detected by PowerVision-9000 immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS

Elf-1 and VEGF were not detected in all normal tissues; the positive rates of Elf-1 and VEGF were 72.46% and 63.77% in NSCLC, respectively. The expression levels of both Elf-1 and VEGF were significantly related with tumor differentiation, lymphatic metastasis, clinical stage, and postoperative survival time (all P < 0.01). Overexpression of them was related with poor prognosis: the survival rates were significantly lower in positive patients than in negative patients (both P < 0.01). Elf-1 expression was positively correlated to VEGF expression (r = 0.702, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

The expression of Elf-1 and VEGF in NSCLC is related to differentiation, lymphatic metastasis, clinical stage and prognosis. Detecting their expression in combination can help to predict the malignant behavior of NSCLC.