Background: Gastric cancer is the 5th most prevalent cancer globally and the 3rd leading cause of cancer-related deaths, causing around 783,000 deaths annually. In Uganda, its incidence increased from 0.8 cases per 100,000 in 1960 to 9 cases per 100,000 in 2014. Despite the crucial role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) protein expression in managing gastric cancer, its prevalence in Ugandan cases is unknown. Objective: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of VEGF protein expression in gastric cancer and explore associated clinicopathological features at the Makerere University Pathology Department.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on conveniently sampled archived tissue blocks of patients diagnosed with gastric adenocarcinoma. The blocks underwent Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) and immunohistochemistry staining (IHC). Results: The study included 100 specimens with a male to female ratio of 1.56:1 and a mean age of 59.4 years. Positive VEGF expression was found in 57.0% of cases. The intestinal Lauren subtype was 79% of cases, and the diffuse subtype was 21%. The most common histological subtype was tubular adenocarcinoma (52.0%). Most cases were poorly differentiated (42.0%), well-differentiated (31.0%), and moderately differentiated (27.0%). VEGF expression was higher in low tumor grades (71.0%) (p=0.059). Tubular adenocarcinomas showed the highest VEGF expression (p=0.099). Male patients had higher VEGF expression (P=0.610). Mucinous adenocarcinoma had the lowest VEGF expression (p=0.004), and poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas had very low VEGF expression (p=0.049).
Conclusion: The study found significant overexpression of VEGF in gastric adenocarcinoma tissues, with varying correlations to different variables.
Keywords: Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF), Immunohistochemistry, Carcinoma