Expression and possible significance of vascular endothelial growth factor in non-Hodgkin lymphoma

There is little information about the exact trigger mechanisms of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in hematolymphoid malignancies. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of VEGF in malignant non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), in terms of its immunohistochemical distribution and clinicopathological significance. We evaluated the distribution in tumor cells, macrophages and in non-tumoral cells. VEGF immunoreactivity was estimated according to this score: 0 (0% positive cells); 1 (<10%); 2 (10-30%); 3 (>30%). Histopathological evaluation revealed 18 cases of diffuse type lymphoma and 3 cases of follicular type lymphoma. VEGF was positive in 95.23% of cases and in one case, VEGF was negative in all cell types. We noticed a significant correlation in VEGF expression between tumor cells and macrophages (p=0,001), tumor cells and non-tumoral cells (p=0,002). In non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the main mechanism of angiogenesis seems to be dependent on the VEGF pathway and its expression particularly by stromal cells