The studies on the correlation for gene expression of tyrosine-kinase receptors and vascular endothelial growth factor in human neuroblastomas.

OBJECTIVE: To study the correlation and clinical significance of expression of tyrosine-kinase receptors (TrkA and TrkB) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in human neuroblastomas.

METHODS: Expression of TrkA, TrkB, and VEGF mRNA was semi-quantitatively detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in 51 cases of neuroblastomas.

RESULTS: The expression of TrkA was significantly higher in lower-stage group compared with higher-stage group (P<0.05), whereas the expression of VEGF was significantly higher in the higher-stage group compared with the lower-stage group (P<0.05). The expression of TrkA was correlated negatively with the expression of VEGF (P<0.01), and has remarkable dependability with 2-year cumulative survival rate (P<0.01). The expression of TrkA in the lower age group was significantly higher than in the higher age group of NB cases (P<0.01). TrkA has a good prognostic impact on neuroblastoma patients (P<0.01). The expression of TrkB was significantly higher in the higher-stage group compared with the lower-stage group (P<0.05) and was positively correlated with VEGF expression (r=0.342, P<0.05); their expression also has remarkable dependability with the 2-year cumulative survival rate (P<0.01). The expression of TrkB was significantly lower in the higher age group compared with the lower age group (P<0.05). The 2-year cumulative-survival rate in the lower age group had a great significance compared with the higher age group (P<0.001). TrkB has a bad prognostic impact on neuroblastoma patients (P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONS: TrkA was highly expressed in good prognostic neuroblastomas; however, TrkB and VEGF were highly expressed in poor prognostic neuroblastomas. The expression of TrkA was negatively correlated with the expression of VEGF, whereas the expression of TrkB was positively correlated with the expression of VEGF. These 3 genes have an important clinical significance relating to the tumor stage and the outcome for patients with neuroblastomas.