Clinical significance of vascular endothelial growth factor and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 gene polymorphisms in patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors

Aim The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) or its family might play role in tumor-related angiogenesis in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), thereby affecting the prognosis. Accordingly, the present study analyzed the impact of VEGF and VEGF receptor-2 (VEGFR-2) gene polymorphisms on the prognosis for GIST patients. Methods In all, 213 consecutive patients with GIST from five medical centers were enrolled in the present study. The genomic DNA was extracted from paraffin-embedded tumor tissue, and four VEGF (-2578C/A, -1498C/T, -634G/C, and +936C/T) and one VEGFR-2 (+1416A/T) gene polymorphisms were determined using a Sequenom MassARRAY system. Results With a median follow up of 18.4 months, the estimated 5-year relapse-free survival and overall survival rates were 70 and 87%, respectively. In a multivariate analysis including age, sex, primary site of disease, pathology and risk stratification, no significant association was observed between the polymorphism of the VEGF and VEGFR-2 genes and survival. Conclusion None of the five VEGF and VEGFR-2 gene polymorphisms investigated in this study was found to be an independent prognostic marker for Korean patients with surgically resected GIST. However, further studies on a larger scale are warranted to clarify the role of VEGF and VEGFR gene polymorphisms as a prognostic biomarker for GIST patients.