VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH-FACTOR IS A POTENTIAL TUMOR ANGIOGENESIS FACTOR IN HUMAN GLIOMAS INVIVO

CLINICAL and experimental studies suggest that angiogenesis is a prerequisite for solid tumour growth1,2. Several growth factors with mitogenic or chemotactic activity for endothelial cells in vitro have been described, but it is not known whether these mediate tumour vascularization in vivo3,4. Glioblastoma, the most common and most malignant brain tumour in humans, is distinguished from astrocytoma by the presence of necroses and vascular proliferations5,6. Here we show that expression of an endothelial cell-specific mitogen, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), is induced in astrocytoma cells but is dramatically upregulated in two apparently different subsets of glioblastoma cells. The high-affinity tyrosine kinase receptor for VEGF, flt, although not expressed in normal brain endothelium, is upregulated in tumour endothelial cells in vivo. These observations strongly support the concept that tumour angiogenesis is regulated by paracrine mechanisms and identify VEGF as a potential tumour angiogenesis factor in vivo.