Comparative analysis of tumor angiogenesis and clinical features of 55 cases of pleomorphic carcinoma and adenocarcinoma of the lung

Pleomorphic carcinoma (PC) of the lung is a rare tumor that usually has an aggressive clinical course and a poor prognosis. Clinical and pathological features remain unclear. The aim of this study was to determine whether tumor angiogenesis of PC is up-regulated compared to that in adenocarcinoma (AD). We collected 55 cases of PC and AD in which the patients had undergone either lung resection or autopsy and immunohistochemically examined the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α and microvessel density (MVD) in tissue specimens. VEGF was expressed in many cases of both PC and AD with no significant differences between the groups. In contrast, the expression of HIF-1α and MVD were significantly greater in PC than AD. Median survival time of the PC group was 14.7 months and significantly shorter than that of the AD group. MVD and expression of HIF-1α are associated with angiogenesis in PC and confer a poorer prognosis. Tumor angiogenesis provides significant prognostic information regarding clinical outcome in patients with PC.