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Angiopoietin‐2 is expressed in oral Kaposi's sarcoma
Author(s) -
Rossi Antonio,
Ferreira Leticia,
CuevasNunez Maria,
Wright John M.,
DePaula Alfredo M. B.,
Basile John R.,
Jham Bruno C.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of oral pathology and medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.887
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1600-0714
pISSN - 0904-2512
DOI - 10.1111/jop.12574
Subject(s) - pathogenesis , tongue , immunohistochemistry , sarcoma , kaposi's sarcoma , lesion , pathology , medicine , cancer , angiopoietin 2 , human herpesvirus , vascular endothelial growth factor , vegf receptors
Background Kaposi's sarcoma ( KS ) persists today as a highly prevalent vascular cancer, often found in HIV patients. Studies have shown that angiopoietin 2 (Ang2), a pro‐angiogenic protein, is involved in the pathogenesis of this tumor. However, expression of this protein has not been investigated in oral KS lesions. Thus, we aimed to investigate the expression of Ang2 in samples of oral KS . Methods Immunohistochemistry was used to evaluate Ang2 expression in 14 oral KS cases, with degrees of expression being analyzed in a semi‐quantitative manner. In addition, clinical information such as age, gender, race, tumor location, size, color, and appearance, as well as HIV status, was collected and included in the analysis. Results All patients were white males, mostly HIV ‐positive, with a mean age of 40 years. Clinically, the lesions were dark red/blue/purple masses, ranging from 1 to 2.5 cm in diameter, found in various locations such as the tongue, palate, and gingiva. Expression of Ang2 was noted in 72% (10/14) of the samples. Of these, 10% showed weak expression, 60% moderate, and 30% strong expression. Conclusions Our results indicate that Ang2 is expressed in oral KS and, consistent with results from previous studies, show that Ang2 may contribute to the pathogenesis of this lesion.