European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

Objectives: To study the angiogenic activity in giant cell tumor of  bone, by means of VEGF expression, in the endothelial cells using immunohistochemical staining.
 Material and methods: A cross sectional study was conducted from March 2020 to April 2022. 50 cases of GCT of bone were included in this study. Tissue sections that were retrieved from archived tissue blocks were stained with immunohistochemical stain for VEGF protein.
Results: Our study revealed that thirty nine of the cases showed a positive staining for VEGF in the tumor cells (72.2 %). There was a significant association between the expression of VEGF in the tumor cells with tumor stage (p=0.003). There was also a significant association between the expressions of VEGF in the tumor cells with the presence of pulmonary metastases (p=0.015).
Conclusion:  GCT of bone is frequently hypervascular; VEGF secreted by tumor cells elicits angiogenesis, which significantly contribute to the development of pulmonary metastasis. This provided confirmation for the prognostic significance of VEGF in predicting the behavior of GCT of bone and also the basis for therapeutics strategy targeting angiogenesis.