The diagnostic value of VEGF expression in the renal parenchyma tumors

Tumor angiogenesis emerged as an important concept in cancer therapy over two decades ago, and was extensively studied by the discovery of VEGF family members. VEGF, also known as vascular permeability factor, is a generic name for VEGF-A, which is one of the members involved in angiogenesis. VEGF is the most important angiogenic factor, with significant effects on tumor angiogenesis. Tumor expression of VEGF was not the first angiogenesis indicator, but a growing number of studies have demonstrated that VEGF could be a prognostic factor, independent even from microvascular density, which is increased by its expression. Renal parenchyma tumors are a heterogeneous group of malignancies, difficult to classify or monitor, which prompts for the assessment of novel markers useful for the investigation of tumor histogenesis or prognostic assessment. VEGF expression in renal parenchyma tumors is poorly studied, with most of the articles published so far focusing on antiangiogenic usage in renal carcinoma therapy. The aim of this study is to detect the expression pattern of VEGF in renal parenchyma tumors by immunohistochemistry.