Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in plasmacytoma

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays an important role in angiogenesis. Although the role and importance of angiogenic factors such as VEGF have been established in various solid tumors, this has not been widely evaluated in hemopoietic neoplasias. In this trial, VEGF was studied in plasmacytoma and VEGF expression was compared with histopathologic grade. Forty-seven samples have taken from cases with plasmacytoma (Pm) (33 bones and 14 soft tissue plasmacytomas) were used as study material. Pm was the initial presentation in all cases, and bone marrow (BM) involvement was detected in 19 cases with systemic evaluation. Twenty-seven of the cases were male (age range was between 19 and 81 years). Histopathologically 27 cases had mature and 20 cases had immature morphology. Immunohistochemical analysis was used to detect VEGF expression and this was scored according to the percentage of the VEGF stained cells. VEGF expression was detected in 32 cases and in eight cases this expression was strong. In 11 cases expression was moderate and 13 cases showed mild expression. When we compared VEGF expression with pathologic grade, 17 of 20 immature samples showed VEGF expression while 15 of 27 mature samples showed VEGF expression. There was a statistically significant association between immature morphology and VEGF expression (p < 0.0264). Additionally all the samples, except one, with strong VEGF expression showed immature morphology. In conclusion two thirds of the cases with Pm showed VEGF expression and this was associated with immature morphology. Increased expression of VEGF was seen in plasmacytomas, and additional studies are needed to determine whether this translates to increased microvasculature or increased risk of progression to myeloma.