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VEGF-C expression is associated with the poor survival in gastric cancer tissue

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Tumor Biology

Abstract

Vascular endothelial growth factor-C (VEGF-C) is considered as a prime mediator of lymphangiogenesis and has been implicated in carcinogenesis and metastasis. Various studies examined the relationship between VEGF-C overexpression and the clinical outcome in patients with gastric cancer, but yielded conflicting results. Electronic databases updated to July 2013 were searched to find relevant studies. A meta-analysis was conducted with eligible studies which quantitatively evaluated the relationship between VEGF-C overexpression and survival of patients with gastric cancer. Survival data were aggregated and quantitatively analyzed. We performed a meta-analysis of 13 studies that evaluated the correlation between VEGF-C overexpression and survival in patients with gastric cancer. Combined hazard ratios suggested that VEGF-C overexpression had an unfavorable impact on overall survival (OS) (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.38, 95 % confidence interval (CI) = 1.08–1.68), but not disease-free survival (DFS) (HR = 1.25, 95 % CI = 0.89–1.62) in patients with gastric cancer. No significant heterogeneity (P = 0.132) was observed among 11 studies for OS and among 5 studies for DFS (P = 0.105). VEGF-C overexpression indicates a poor prognosis for overall survival, but not disease-free survival in patients with gastric cancer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oncology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, No. 197, Ruijin Er Rd, Shanghai, 200025, China

    Weiguo Cao

  2. Department of Gastroenterology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, No. 197, Ruijin Er Rd, Shanghai, 200025, China

    Rong Fan & Yunlin Wu

  3. Department of General Surgery, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, No. 197, Ruijin Er Rd, Shanghai, 200025, China

    Weiping Yang

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  1. Weiguo Cao
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  4. Yunlin Wu
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Correspondence to Yunlin Wu.

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Cao, W., Fan, R., Yang, W. et al. VEGF-C expression is associated with the poor survival in gastric cancer tissue. Tumor Biol. 35, 3377–3383 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-013-1445-0

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